LIBRARY 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

SANTA  BARBARA 

PRESENTED  BY 

W.S.W.    KEW 


JAMES  HALL 

OF  ALBANY 

GEOLOGIST   AND    PALAEONTOLOGIST 
1811-1898 


JAMES  HALL 
.ETAT.  85 


JAMES  HALL 


OF    ALBANY 


GEOLOGIST  AND  PALAEONTOLOGIST 


18114898 


BY 

JOHN  M.  CLARKE 


ALBANY 
1921 


LIBRARY 
c  «r-  UNIVERSITY  OF  CA 

SANTA  BARBARA 


TO  THE 

RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE 

THIS   MEMORIAL  OF   ONE  OF  HER  SONS 

BY   ONE   OF  HER  ADOPTED   SONS 

IS   FAITHFULLY   INSCRIBED 


PREFATORY  WORD 

The  official  scientific  career  of  James  Hall 
extended  over  a  period  of  nearly  sixty-three  years. 
During  this  entire  stretch  of  time  he  served  the 
same  State  without  interruption.  He  was  a  youth 
of  25  when  he  entered  this  service,  an  old  man  of 
87  when  this  service  ceased.  It  is  probable  that 
this  record  of  official  scientific  activity  has  never 
been  equaled  in  duration.  As  it  was  long  in  time, 
so  it  was  great  in  fruitfulness  and  admirable  in 
devotion.  During  his  life  he  touched  the  rapidly 
developing  science  of  geology  in  many  of  its 
phases;  in  nearly  all  through  the  period  of  its 
romantic  adventures.  His  publications  are  spread 
through  a  score  of  quarto  volumes  and  several 
hundred  pamphlets,  but  the  intimate  story  of  his 
life  has  never  been  written.  The  present  volume 
is  the  effort  to  portray  the  man  as  he  was;  the 
influences  that  guided  him  and  that  he  imparted; 
the  work  he  did  and  the  manner  of  doing  it;  the 
friendships  he  made  and  the  esteem  he  won.  It 
has  been  prepared  by  one  who  was  closely  asso- 
ciated with  him  during  his  last  twelve  years. 

This  work  has  reached  unexpected  size,  but  the 
interests  of  this  single  life  to  American  geology 
and  to  the  public  service,  its  lessons  of  singleness 
of  purpose  and  loyalty,  seem  to  justify  the  picture 

as  here  presented. 

JOHN  M.  CLARKE 


CHAPTER  I 

PARENTAGE,  BOYHOOD  AND  SCHOOLDAYS  AT 
HINGHAM 

Hingham;  its  location  and  settlement — Arrival  of  James 
Hall,  Sr.,  from  England  —  A  woolen-weaver  —  General 
Lincoln's  mill — The  Old  Ship  Church  —  Death  of  the 
parents  — The  "  haunts  of  my  childhood  " —  Boy  inter- 
est in  Nature  —  Poverty  at  home  —  Hingham  schools 
and  schoolmasters  —  Increase  N.  Smith  —  Boyhood 
friendships  and  letters  —  Charles  S.  Kendall  —  Burn- 
ing of  Doctor  Beecher's  church  — The  octogenarians  — 
Hall's  lack  of  interest  in  the  rocks  —  Boston  influences 

—  Martin  Gay — The  Linnaean  Society — The  Boston 
Society  of  Natural  History  — Amos  Binney,  George  B. 
Emerson,  Augustus  A.  Gould,  D.  Humphreys  Storer 

—  Natural  History  of  Massachusetts. 

IN  the  early  years  of  the  last  century  the  town  of 
Hingham,    Massachusetts,    a    cradle   of    dis- 
tinguished Americans,  was  devoting  itself  to 
the  practise  of  a  liberal  theology  and,  among  other 
things,  to  the  manufacture  of  woolens,  satinets  and 
silk  umbrellas.     Situated  on  the  south  shore  of 
Boston  Bay,  this  venerable  post-town  dated  its  first 
organized  settlement  back  to  the  year  1633,  and  its 
"  assessment "  as  a  plantation  to  1635,  when  the 
Reverend  Peter  Hobart 1  and  twenty-nine  others 

1  Peter  Hobart's  daughter  Rebecca  married,  at  Hingham,  1679, 
Daniel,  son  of  Captain  John  Mason;  thence  the  writer  of  these 
pages. 


10  JAMES  HALL 

arrived  out  from  Old  Hingham,  came  ashore  in 
the  "  Cove,"  took  up  their  lots  and  built  their 
church.  The  village  had  grown  to  be  one  of  mills 
which  ground  and  sawed  and  wove  for  the  country- 
side and  made  twenty  thousand  silk  umbrellas  a 
year;  and  all  honestly  done,  for  it  has  been  set 
down  in  the  history  of  the  town  that  some  of  these 
umbrellas  were  still  in  service  after  seventy  years 
of  use!  Prettily  set  on  its  own  harbor  of  the  bay 
where  the  tidal  inlets  of  the  waterside  were  made 
to  serve  some  of  its  mills,  and  indeed  do  yet;  its 
rounded  and  weathered  granite  knobs  and  its  oc- 
casional gravelly  drumlins  command  the  islet- 
dotted  expanse  of  the  harbor  and,  out  beyond,  the 
broader  waters  bounded  by  the  long  arm  of  Nan- 
tasket  Beach.  "  Its  form,"  said  Johnson  in  his 
Wonder  Working  Providence  (1654),  referring  to 
the  coast  of  Hingham,  "  is  somewhat  intricate  to 
describe  by  reason  of  the  sea's  washing  crookes 
where  it  beats  upon  a  mouldering  shore."  We 
find  it  so,  for  today  its  "  crookes  "  have  been  but 
lightly  straightened  out  by  human  control  of  the 
sea's  invasions,  the  "  mouldering  shore  "  remains, 
and  the  salt,  marsh  spreads  wide  along  the  tide 
streams  and  among  the  rocky  knolls.  Away  back 
from  the  shore  lie  the  Glad  Tidings  Plain,  the 
Liberty  Plain,  and  out  of  them  rise  those  "  Hills 
of  Hingham,"  whose  emotions  and  philosophy  have 


HINGHAM  11 

been  so  happily  portrayed  by  a  later  lover  of  the 
place.2 

To  Hingham  village  sometime  in  the  early 
1800s,  came  James  Hall,  the  father  of  our  geologist, 
bringing  with  him  his  young  wife.  There  seems 
to  be  a  tradition  in  the  family  that  in  his  England 
home  this  young  man  had  been  destined  by  an 
austere  parent  for  the  army,  notwithstanding  the 
fact  that  two  of  his  brothers  had  already  given  their 
lives  in  the  wars  with  Napoleon.  Restive  under 
these  paternal  demands  and  determined  to  make  his 
own  career,  he  got  together,  it  is  said,  what  little 
of  substance  he  could  command  and  set  sail,  leaving 
the  old  England  to  try  out  his  fortune  in  the  new. 
Whether  or  not  he  really  carried  the  intention  to 
remain,  his  stars  did,  for  on  shipboard  during  the 
long  voyage  came  the  oft  repeated  romance  of  the 
sea, —  he  fell  in  love  with  a  maiden  of  his  own 
land,  Susanna  Dourdain,  and  they  were  married 
soon  after  the  arrival  of  their  ship  in  Boston. 

Nineteen  years  old,  in  a  strange  country,  know- 
ing no  man,  without  capital  or  a  trade  and  with  a 
wife,  the  young  fellow  stared  the  struggle  for 
existence  solemnly  in  the  face.  By  a  strange 
chance,  somewhere  along  the  coast,  perhaps  at 
Hingham  whither  he  may  have  wandered,  the 
young  adventurer  rescued  a  drowning  girl,  and 
this  Puritan  maiden  proved  to  be  the  daughter  of 

2  Dallas  Lore  Sharp ;  "  The  Hills  of  Hingham  ",  1916 


12  JAMES  HALL 

a  Mr.  Hapgood,  owner  of  the  woolen  mills  in 
Hingham.  The  effective  incident  led  quite  natu- 
rally to  an  acquaintance  with  this  father  and 
eventually  to  young  Hall's  employment  in  the  Hap- 
good  mill  on  the  Weir  river,  and  here  he  remained 
till  his  death  in  1836,  at  the  early  age  of  forty-five. 

Thus  the  story  which  has  been  perpetuated  in 
the  family;  but  like  many  family  tales,  it  needs 
correction  to  conform  with  the  records  of  the 
settlement. 

Major-General  Benjamin  Lincoln,  the  Revolu- 
tion and  Shays's  Rebellion  being  over  and  his  serv- 
ice as  President  Washington's  Secretary  of  War 
closed,  returned  to  his  home  at  Hingham  and 
interested  himself  in  the  establishment  of  a  flour- 
ing mill  on  the  Weir  river  east  of  the  village. 
After  the  death  of  General  Lincoln  in  1810,  this 
was  converted  into  a  woolen  mill  and  was  con- 
ducted by  the  General's  son.  James  Hall  Senior 
had  served  his  apprenticeship  in  England  as  a 
woolen-weaver  and  it  seems  likely  that  he  had  come 
out  to  Hingham  in  response  to  a  request  for  such 
service  as  he  could  give.  In  1812,  Mr.  Hall  was 
superintendent  of  the  Lincoln  mill,  a  position  he 
could  not  have  held  without  expert  training,  and 
was  turning  out  satinets  and  cassimeres  in  such 
quantity  that  "  business  was  said  to  be  prosperous." 
In  1816  the  mill  was  sold  to  Henry  Hapgood,  Mr. 
Hall  remaining  as  its  superintendent. 


HOME  LIFE  13 

During  the  first  years  of  their  life  in  Hingham, 
James  and  Susanna  had  made  their  home  on  the 
riverside  where  the  mill  stood,  and  there  about  a 
year  after  their  marriage  their  eldest  child,  James, 
the  subject  of  this  record,  was  born,  September  12, 
1811.  Other  children  came  in  due  time,  Susanna 
and  Hannah,  Anna  and  William,  and  as  the  family 
grew  and  the  business  became  more  profitable,  the 
home  was  moved  to  South  street  in  the  heart  of 
the  village.  I  never  heard  Professor  Hall  speak 
of  his  father.  In  my  time  memories  of  him  be- 
longed to  a  distant  childhood  to  which  he  seldom 
referred.  But  the  recollections  of  one  of  his  con- 
temporaries are  that  he  was  a  man  of  rather 
scholarly  disposition,  a  buyer  and  reader  of  some- 
what learned  books,  as  his  slender  means  afforded. 
A  growing  family  and  the  necessity  of  establishing 
his  position  in  the  community  by  the  maintenance 
of  a  home  and  by  becoming  a  pew-owner  in  the 
venerable  First  Parish  Meeting  House,3  must  have 
helped  to  sharpen  the  family  resources  to  a  narrow 
angle.  After  a  short  but  active  life  Mr.  Hall  died, 
and  in  the  absence  of  other  record  his  epitaph  in 
the  Hingham  Burying  Ground  suffices:  The 
memory  of  his  virtues  still  lives. 


3  The  ancient  Meeting  House,  built  in  1681  and  still  vibrant  with 
the  centuries,  is  the  "  Old  Ship  Church,"  so  called  because  its  axe- 
hewn  beams,  yet  visible,  are  said  to  have  been  the  timbers  of  a 
dismantled  ship. 


14  JAMES  HALL 

Of  the  mother,  the  English  girl  who  had  pledged 
her  fortunes  to  those  of  her  fellow  traveler  before 
either  had  seen  the  shores  of  their  hopes,  we  also 
know  very  little.  I  think  she  must  have  been  a 
gentle  and  faithful  counselor,  for  the  son's  attach- 
ment to  her  was  deep  and  tender,  sacred  as  a  man's 
love  for  his  mother  is  wont  to  be,  the  more  even 
as  the  years  grow  old.  Though  she  was  never 
a  subject  of  conversation  in  our  interviews,  I  shall 
not  forget  his  touching  tribute  to  her  in  a  letter  he 
wrote  at  the  death  of  another  mother.  He  was 
then  eighty,  and  "  even  today,"  he  said,  "  in  my 
troubles  I  feel  as  if  I  must  take  them  to  her."  Mrs. 
Hall  lived  twenty-three  years  after  her  husband, 
dying  in  1859  at  the  age  of  seventy.  She  main- 
tained her  home  at  Hingham  whither  the  son 
journeyed  by  every  opportunity,  and  she  sometimes 
went  with  him  into  the  fields  of  his  early  geological 
work. 

We  shall  be  somewhat  at  loss  in  estimating  the 
effect  of  home  influences  in  expanding  the  pro- 
foundly instinctive  love  of  nature  in  the  young 
Hall,  but  it  is  not  difficult  to  conceive  how  his  other 
surroundings  gave  play  to  this  love.  Along  the 
rocky  knolls  and  islets  of  the  Bay  a  heavy  tidal  ebb 
uncovered  the  rich  sea  life  clinging  to  the  stony 
bottom  or  half  buried  in  the  tidal  muds.  There 
were  tidal  inlets  running  up  from  the  bay  shore 
into  a  meandering  river,  and  all  about  the  settle- 


CHILDHOOD  HAUNTS  15 

ment  the  projecting  granite  hills,  the  woods,  the 
clearings,  the  salt  marshes  and  the  broad  terrace 
plains  cried  loudly  to  the  boy.  And  their  echo 
lasted  long,  for  in  one  of  his  published  letters, 
written  when  he  was  eighty-five  years  old,  he 
speaks  of  the  "  haunts  of  my  -childhood  where  I 
had  collected  shells  upon  the  sea  beach  and  flowers 
in  the  swamps  and  woods;  flowers  for  which  in 
that  former  time  no  names  were  known  nor  means 
of  learning  how  to  know  them."  4 

There  is  abundance  of  incidents  of  his  later 
career  that  speak  of  the  close  acquaintance  with  all 
these  things  of  shore  and  woodland;  his  complete 
devotion  to  botany  in  his  course  at  the  Rensselaer 
School,  his  accurate  understanding  of  the  sea- 
shrimps  when  making  comparisons  between  them 
and  their  extinct  ancestors  of  the  Silurian  waters, 
his  close  knowledge  of  the  anatomy  of  the  mol- 
lusks,  the  starfishes  and  sea-urchins,  which  was 
made  evident  in  his  palaeontological  writings;  all 
these  seem  to  tell  of  his  inquiring  mind  scrambling 
with  his  active  body  over  tidal  rocks  and  flats, 
through  the  meadows  and  woods  of  Hingham. 

The  resources  at  home  were  always  slender.  To 
this  he  has  himself  referred.  'Even  in  his  day  the  vil- 
lage boasted  an  endowed  school,  the  Derby  School, 


4  Memorial   of   Thomas   Tracy  Bouve:    Proc.    Boston   Soc.   Nat. 
Hist.,  v.  27,  p.  240,  1896. 


16  JAMES  HALL 

of  historic  and  present  excellence,  but  James  could 
afford  only  to  attend  the  grammar  school;  and 
he  tells  of  working  hard  Saturday  afternoons  and 
other  odd  times,  to  raise  money  enough  to  go  to 
evening  school  too.  This  grammar  school  was 
kept  by  Increase  N.  Smith,  a  young  master  with 
whom  he  maintained  an  intimate  friendship  for 
years  after  he  had  left  his  home.  Whatever  the 
two  had  been  to  each  other  in  village  days,  inside 
and  outside  of  school,  they  were  compensating 
critics  for  twenty  years  after  they  had  separated. 
Hall,  the  enthusiastic  student  at  the  Rensselaer 
School  and  aspiring  geologist  at  Albany,  was  ever 
trying  to  lead  his  teacher  into  the  paths  of  science 
by  sending  him  minerals,  shells,  stuffed  birds,  and 
book  after  book  on  geology,  all  of  which  were  faith- 
fully studied ;  and  the  account  was  balanced  by  the 
schoolmaster  with  a  return  in  criticism  on  the  evil 
English  used  in  the  reports  of  Hall's  colleagues  on 
the  Natural  History  Survey.  "  We  closet  natu- 
ralists," he  says,  as  he  points  to  various  false 
syntaxes,  "  like  to  read  the  results  of  the  active 
observers  in  language  we  can  understand."  The 
student  had  been  well  schooled  by  this  master  and 
Hall  never  wrote  slovenly  English ;  indeed  his  early 
reports  were  couched  in  singularly  perspicacious 
language;  and  the  introduction  to  his  great  report 
of  1843  is  a  masterpiece  both  in  thought  as  well  as 
expression. 


SCHOOL  AND  SCHOOLMASTER       17 

The  dominie  tells  him,  in  these  days,  of  the 
wonders  of  his  developing  Sphinx  —  how  he  has 
burst  his  shell  and  come  forth  to  greet  the  May 
morning;  in  another  letter  it  is  a  turtle  that  inspires 
his  pen.  Now  he  is  puzzled  over  his  shells :  "  I  get 
hold,"  he  says,  "  as  we  are  all  apt  to  do  in  many  of 
the  concerns  of  life,  at  the  wrong  end.  I  gaze  away 
at  the  base,  and  lo,  it  turns  out  to  be  the  vertex  " ; 
again,  the  boys  have  brought  in  another  chrysalis 
to  the  school,  but  he  turns  from  it  quickly  to  say 
that  he  is  reading  the  Prometheus  Bound,  "  a  little 
theology,  Latin  and  history,"  and  is  happy  to  hear 
that  Hall  is  continuing  his  Latin,  adding  the 
pleasant  assurance :  "  You  will  of  course  never 
become  a  thorough  linguist,"  as  though  he  had  seen 
many  evidences  of  restiveness  under  the  con- 
straints of  the  "  classics."  This  friendship  which 
I  can  reconstruct  only  from  the  schoolmaster's 
letters,  is  an  impressive  evidence,  though  but  one 
of  many,  of  the  loyalty  of  the  young  Hall  to  his 
boyhood  friends.  Each  seemed  seriously  to  inspire 
the  other  with  his  aims  and  purposes  and  both 
reaped  the  harvest.  And  then  in  later  years,  in 
the  last  of  the  schoolmaster's  letters,  after  he  had 
left  Hingham  for  Dorchester,  and  when  his  pupil, 
in  1849,  was  climbing  upward  to  his  fame,  he  writes 
in  acknowledgment  of  a  copy  of  Hall's  Harvard 
address :  "  I  accept  it  as  a  proof  that  some  remi- 
niscences of  our  palaeic  friendship  still  exist.  Can 


18  JAMES  HALL 

it  be  that  you  can  read  so  positively  the  geologic 
history  of  the  past?  Are  you  not  drawing  upon 
your  imagination?  It  seems  like  magic.  You  tell 
such  palaeontologico-Munchausen  stories  that  I  am 
almost  tempted  to  cry  out  with  the  poet  of  old, 
'  credat  Judaeus,  non  ego  ! ' 3 

There  is  many  another  faded  letter  to  bear  wit- 
ness to  this  treasure  of  boyhood  friendships,  but 
of  them  all  none  are  so  enduring  a  monument  as  a 
bundle  of  yellowing  sheets,  the  first  written  in  1828 
and  the  last  in  1893,  covering  a  stretch  of  sixty-five 
years.  These  are  the  letters  of  Charles  S.  Kendall, 
later  of  the  Boston  publishing  house  of  Gould, 
Kendall  and  Lincoln,  and  in  after  years  of  Rice, 
Kendall  &  Co.,  paper  manufacturers,  still  a  name 
of  high  repute. 

The  almost  century  old  devotion  of  these  boys  is 
a  pleasing  picture.  In  1828  the  young  Kendall  is 
at  school  in  Boston  and  has  been  trying  to  buy  some 
books  for  his  friend  James,  and  these  were  "  to  be 
left  at  Mr.  Hickey's  store,"  in  Hingham.  It  is 
June,  and  James  is  returning  the  favor  by  sending 
up  by  the  packet  a  basket  of  strawberries,  which 
"  I  am  sorry  to  say  were  all  spoiled,"  writes  Ken- 
dall ;  adding  that  he  now  has  a  place  in  Pierce  and 
Williams's  Bookstore  at  the  foot  of  Market  Street, 
where  Hall  is  to  come  and  see  him ;  but  Hall  is  not 
to  send  him  any  more  berries  because  he  doesn't 
deserve  them,  having  let  the  others  spoil ;  he  hopes 


BOYHOOD  FRIENDSHIPS  19 

for  a  letter  at  least  once  a  fortnight  —  and  ends  his 
missive  with  a  glorious  pen  flourish  and  a  genuine 
American  boy  explosion,  "  George  Washington 
Forever !  " 

A  letter  to  "  Friend  James  "  early  in  the  winter 
of  1829-30  carries  a  thrilling  description  of  the 
burning  of  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher's  "  Meeting 
House  "  in  Hanover  Street,  with  its  organ  and 
sacramental  plate,  its  collection  of  "  Minerals 
found  in  almost  every  part  of  the  world,  Lava, 
Wood,  Heathen  Gods,  and  one  or  two  MSS.  written 
on  parchment,  that  were  found  in  the  Ruins  in 
Greece,  supposed  to  have  been  written  '  hundreds 
of  years  ago '  " ;  together  with  a  "  cellar  full  of 
figs,  wines  and  brandies,  owned  by  a  wealthy  man 
who  is  able  to  lose  it." 

So  these  letters  run  on  full  of  interested  inquiries 
about  the  home  folks  and  answered  doubtless  with 
the  little  gossip  of  the  town.  All  through  the  years 
of  their  lives  the  missives  ripple  back  and  forth, 
Kendall  now  applauding  Hall's  successes,  now 
scolding  at  his  improvident  waste  in  not  turning 
his  talents  to  money  making;  again  and  again  help- 
ing him  with  his  practical  business  counsel,  up- 
braiding him  for  his  sensitiveness  and  irascibility; 
he  was  the  confidant  of  all  Hall's  troubles,  real  and 
fancied,  rejoiced  in  his  fame,  and  doubtless  was 
the  one  friend  in  his  life  whose  finger  was  on  the 
pulse  of  all  his  years ;  and  at  the  bottom  of  this  pile 


20  JAMES  HALL 

I  find  one  written  in  the  last  year  of  Mr.  Kendall's 
life,  1893.  It  is  now  the  letter  of  one  octogenarian 
boy  to  another  looking  back  through  a  silvered  haze 
over  the  years  to  Hingham. 

"  I  think  we  met  each  other  in  1826.  I  was  with 
Uncle  Cant  that  summer  *  *  *  and  I  can  well 
remember  the  visit  you  made  me  in  1828  or  29 
while  I  was  in  the  Bookstore  in  Cornhill  and  you 
on  your  way  to  the  Rensselaer  Institute, —  on  foot 
all  the  way !  " 

Mr.  Hall's  attachment  to  the  place  of  his  birth, 
of  his  schooling,  his  struggles  at  chores  and  store- 
keeping,  kept  a  strong  hold  on  him  in  later  years. 
He  visited  Hingham  frequently  for  brief  summer 
stays  on  visits  with  his  friend  of  many  years, 
Thomas  T.  Bouve,5  loyally  deposited  his  money  in 
its  banks,  and  to  the  end  kept  in  order  his  parents' 
burial  plot  in  the  old  cemetery  where  he  himself 
hoped  to  be  buried  —  though  it  was  not  so  to  be. 

Right  here  is  the  place  to  take  note  of  a  singular 
errancy  in  these  home  influences.  There  is  not  a 
trace  of  evidence  that  this  eminent  geologist  was 
at  any  time  interested  in  or  attracted  by  the  rocks 
of  Hingham,  which  confront  the  observer  on  every 

5  There  are  still  many  living  witnesses  to  the  helpful  service  to 
science,  of  Thomas  T.  Bouve,  "  the  ironmaster "  of  Boston  and 
Hingham,  an  amateur  but  accurate  student  of  science,  its  patron 
as  president  of  the  Boston  Society  of  Natural  History  for  ten 
years,  and  a  man  of  large  affairs. 


THE  HILLS  OF  HINGHAM  21 

hand.  They  are,  indeed,  vastly  altered  and  crystal- 
lized sediments  invaded  frequently  by  volcanic 
intrusions  and  with  a  cryptic  mineralogy  which 
would  naturally  have  puzzled  a  boy  who  must  be 
attracted  first  by  the  more  obvious;  but  the  great 
conglomerates  among  these  crystallines,  speaking 
today  of  a  possible  glacial  action  in  the  carbon- 
iferous days  when  these  now  deeply  altered  rocks 
were  laid  down  by  the  waters;  the  later  glacial 
scratches  and  scorings  of  the  rock  knolls;  the  ele- 
vated beaches  standing  out  conspicuously  as  banks 
of  sand,  traces  of  the  ancient  lake  which  has  now 
been  christened  Lake  Bouve ; —  none  of  these  phe- 
nomena seems  to  have  left  any  tangible  impress  on 
the  future  geologist  or  to  have,  in  youth,  invited 
his  attention.  Professor  Woodworth  has  very 
happily  said :  "  The  gnarled  and  topsy-turvy  strati- 
graphy of  Eastern  Massachusetts  may  afford  a 
birthplace  for  a  James  Hall  but  it  will  not  rear 
him."6 

Hingham  was  then  as  much  within  the  magnetic 
field  of  Boston  as  it  is  today,  and  what  influences 
in  developing  the  young  Hall  we  fail  to  find  in  the 
eddies  and  hills,  we  may  well  look  for  in  the  per- 
sonal emanations  from  across  the  South  Bay. 
During  Hall's  boyhood,  Dr.  Martin  Gay  had  come 
to  live  in  Hingham,  a  Harvard  graduate  who  had 

6  J.  B.  Woodworth,  in  the  "  Life  of  Charles  T.  Jackson,"  Ameri- 
can Geologist,  1897,  p.  78. 


22  JAMES  HALL 

become  an  expert  analytical  chemist  and  was  to 
acquire  distinction  for  his  writings  on  medical 
jurisprudence.  In  his  earlier  years,  Gay  was  a 
public  lyceum  lecturer  in  Boston  and  the  villages 
round-about;  and  his  chemical  expositions  greatly 
attracted  James,  and  indeed  Gay  was  very  much 
attracted  by  the  boy.  Soon  it  came  about  that  Hall 
was  helping  Gay  in  the  arrangement  of  his  appa- 
ratus and  his  demonstrations  before  audiences, 
first  in  Hingham  in  1830  and  then  in  Boston.  The 
help  of  this  hand  was  of  all  things  what  the  aspir- 
ing and  interested  boy  needed  most.  More  than 
that,  contact  with  Dr.  Gay,  who  was  not  very  much 
Hall's  senior,  must  have  brought  him  in  touch  with 
that  very  exceptional  coterie  of  men  who  were 
actively  concerned  in  bringing  about  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Boston  Society  of  Natural  History. 

The  Boston  "  Linnean  Society  "  had  furled  its 
colors  about  1823,  and  the  active  scientific  spirits 
of  Boston  from  this  time  on  were  as  sheep  having 
no  shepherd,  until  the  launching  of  the  "  Boston 
Society  "  in  1830.  We  shall  see  some  of  the  men 
in  the  pages  of  this  memorial,  but  besides  Gay, 
these  at  least  need  mention  here:  Amos  Binney, 
who  had  been  educated  at  the  Derby  School  at 
Hingham  and  whose  scientific  tastes  had  led  him 
from  merchandise  into  medicine  and  from  the 
State  legislature  into  the  Mollusca  —  a  brief  but 
brilliant  and  helpful  career;  George  B.  Emerson, 


THE  BOSTON  COTERIE  23 

the  educator  and  botanist,  a  man  whose  interest  in 
the  training  of  youth  must  have  had  its  direct 
effect  on  the  boy  who  was  doing  the  neighbor's 
chores  and  tutoring  backward  children  to  get 
enough  money  to  pay  for  night  school  and  Boston 
lectures;  Augustus  A.  Gould,  conchologist,  whom 
Hall  long  years  after  characterized  as  "  full  of  the 
love  of  his  fellow  men ; "  and  Dr.  D.  Humphreys 
Storer,  the  eminent  dean  of  the  Harvard  Medical 
School  and  authority  on  reptiles  and  fishes;  these 
still  standard  names  in  the  annals  of  our  science 
must  have  been,  it  would  appear  from  the  corre- 
spondence of  later  years,  friendly  harbor  lights  in 
guiding  the  career  of  this  youth. 

They  were  all  men  actively  concerned  in  the 
founding  of  the  Boston  Society,  and  several  of 
them,  particularly  Binney,  Emerson  and  Storer, 
were  organizers  of  the  Natural  History  Survey  of 
Massachusetts. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  RENSSELAER  SCHOOL 
STUDENT  AND  PROFESSOR 

Goes  to  the  Rensselaer  School  —  The  "  Rensselaerean  plan  " 

—  A   school   of    natural   science  —  Amos    Eaton ;    his 
Geological  Surveys  —  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer  — Joseph 
Henry  —  Eaton  and  Hall  —  Hall's  enthusiasm  —  Char- 
acter   of    the    graduates  —  Abram    Sager;    his    dis- 
tinguished career  —  Wells  Williams,  orientalist  —  John 
Wright,   botanist  —  Alexander   Van   Rensselaer,    phil- 
anthropist —  Douglas      Houghton,      geologist  —  Hall's 
love  for  botany  —  His  graduation  —  His  physical  ap- 
pearance and  vigor  —  Witness  of  Joseph  Henry's  ex- 
periments — Hall's  tribute  to  Eaton  — Eaton's  extraordi- 
nary   influence  —  Eaton's    "  Text-book    of    Geology  " 

—  Geological   excursions ;  the  Helderberg   Mountains, 
Schoharie  —  John  Gebhard,  Sr.  and  Jr. ;  their  pioneer 
work  in  geology  —  Hall  made  Professor  —  Collecting 
trips  and  lectures  —  School  activities  at  Troy. 

THROUGH  the  boyish  years  from   15  to  19 
these    Boston    influences   and   associations 
may  well  have  taken  firm  grip  upon  the 
young  Hall;  there  were  cruises  afoot  around  the 
bay  from  Hingham  or  by  boat  across  it,  in  order 
to  share  in  them;  but  there  is  nothing  to  show 
among  the  records  of  Hall's  life  just  what  it  was 
that  turned  his  youthful  resolution  upon  a  life  of 

[24] 


THE  RENSSELAEREAN  PLAN         25 

science  or  his  attention  to  the  new  school  just 
started  at  Troy,  N.  Y.,  under  the  foundation  of 
Stephen  Van  Rensselaer,  Patroon  of  Albany,  and 
the  direction  of  Amos  Eaton.  Perhaps  neither  of 
these  requires  explanation.  The  nascent  tastes  of 
the  boy  were  excuse  enough  for  the  former,  though 
it  was  resolution  of  no  mean  grade  that  could  impel 
an  impecunious  lad  to  such  an  extraordinary  ven- 
ture for  those  days. 

The  Rensselaer  School  had  already  become 
known  as  an  entirely  new  departure  in  the  educa- 
tion of  boys.  Nothing  like  it  had  appeared  among 
American  institutions,  either  in  its  curriculum  or 
in  its  pedagogic  mode.  This  "  Rensselaerean 
Plan,"  as  it  was  designated  by  the  Senior  Pro- 
fessor, Amos  Eaton,  in  an  early  circular  regarding 
the  school,  took  cognizance  of  the  fact  that  "  the 
aspiring  energies  of  youth  had  been  chained  down 
to  a  kind  of  literary  bondage,"  and  that  "  a  method 
was  loudly  demanded  which  should  be  adapted  to 
the  native  curiosity  and  ardor  of  youth."  The  new 
foundation  was  a  determined  break-away  from  the 
conventional  classical  school ;  in  other  words,  it  was 
a  school  of  science  in  which  science  was  taught  by 
personal  contact  in  laboratory  and  field,  and  by 
classroom  functions  in  which  students  lectured 
while  professors  listened. 

Not  in  any  sense  was  the  institution  a  school 
of  civil  engineering.  Such  a  consummation  seems 


26  JAMES  HALL 

not  yet  to  have  entered  upon  the  vision  of  its 
director. 

If  one  science  was  singled  out  for  preference  or 
special  notice,  it  is  indicated  on  the  back  of  this 
circular  of  1827,  where  it  reads  that  "  In  addition 
to  the  above  expenses  it  is  now  required  that  each 
student  take  two  short  mineralogical  tours  to  col- 
lect minerals  for  his  own  use,  for  the  purpose  of 
improving  himself  in  the  sciences  of  mineralogy 
and  geology." 

Hall  went  to  the  Rensselaer  School  in  1830,  two 
hundred  and  twenty  miles  afoot ;  and  he  graduated 
in  1832.  It  is  bootless  to  ask  how  he  managed  it, 
where  he  got  the  money,  the  one  hundred  and 
eighty  very  necessary  dollars  a  year :  "  Without 
exact  economy,"  said  the  circular  of  1827,  "  it  will 
cost  more."  Perhaps  some  of  the  silent  voices  we 
have  indicated  above  might  tell  how  this  was  pro- 
vided. It  must  have  been  not  merely  the  Rens- 
selaer School  and  its  novel  methods  that  so  much 
attracted,  as  the  widespread  and  steadily  rising 
repute  of  its  great  Senior  Professor.  Amos  Eaton, 
who  had  studied  law  with  Alexander  Hamilton  and 
science  with  Benjamin  Silliman,  had  been  so  inspir- 
ing a  lecturer  on  various  branches  of  natural 
science  at  the  Troy  Lyceum  and  over  the  country- 

1  The  civil  engineering  course  was  not  projected  till  1834  and 
did  not  become  effective  till  1837.  See  letters  of  Dr.  John  Wright 
and  Eben  N.  Horsford. 


AMOS  EATON'S  WORK  27 

side  of  eastern  New  York  and  western  Massachu- 
setts, that  he  attracted  the  attention  and  good  will 
of  leading  patrons  of  learning.  Chancellor  John 
Lansing,  Jr.,  of  the  Regents  of  the  University,  in 
1819  bore  the  expense  of  a  survey  of  the  Helder- 
bergs  and  Catskills  and  accompanied  Eaton 
throughout.  It  was  Eaton,  while  a  public  lecturer, 
who  first  turned  the  young  Joseph  Henry  from  his 
dreams  of  a  life  devoted  to  poetry  and  the  drama, 
into  the  fascinating  fields  of  science.  Stephen  Van 
Rensselaer,  the  Patroon,  commissioned  Eaton  to 
conduct  the  Agricultural-geological  surveys,  first 
of  Albany  County  and  then  of  Rensselaer  County, 
in  the  years  1820-22,  the  first  undertakings  of  their 
kind  in  America,  perhaps  anywhere;  and  on  this 
Rensselaer  County  survey  the  future  discoverer  of 
the  principles  of  the  telegraph  and  telephone,  of 
electrical  induction  and  the  dynamo,  the  coming 
first  Secretary  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution, 
Joseph  Henry,  was  his  assistant.  Thus  Henry  was 
a  geologist  first;  the  rest  followed.2 

Again,  the  Patroon  supported  Eaton  on  a  great 
geological  enterprise,  the  Geological  Survey  of  the 
Vicinity  of  the  Erie  Canal  (1823),  that  wondrous 
great  new  water-way  conceived  and  executed  by 
DeWitt  Clinton,  New  York's  foremost  and  first 
apostle  of  her  natural  resources.  This  survey  was 

2  The  series  of  specimens  collected  on  this  geological  soil  survey 
by  Joseph  Henry  are  still  preserved  in  the  New  York  State  Museum. 


28  JAMES  HALL 

an  extraordinary  undertaking  and  extraordinary  in 
its  accomplishment,  for  it  gave  a  cross-section  of 
the  rock  formations  from  Williamstown,  Mass.,  on 
the  east,  to  Buffalo  on  the  west,  supplemented  by  a 
section,  made  by  Edward  Hitchcock,  across  the 
State  of  Massachusetts.  It  was  this  man  Eaton 
who  was  inviting  to  the  Rensselaer  School  the 
youth  of  the  east  by  his  tactile,  ponderable,  eye  anc] 
wit-training  instruction;  a  naturalist  in  the  old 
time  meaning  of  the  word ;  author  of  text-books  on 
geology,  botany,  zoology,  chemistry,  prepared  for 
his  own  students  and  among  the  first  of  their  kind 
in  America.  This  inspiring  genius,  not  yet  a  civil 
engineer  even  as  that  art  was  then  practised,  direct- 
ing a  school  which  was  not  conceived  as  a  school  of 
engineering,  still  remains,  in  spirit  and  method,  the 
tutelary  divinity  of  the  great  engineering  organism 
into  which  this  school  has,  by  acquisition  and 
inhibition,  developed;  the  Rensselaer  Polytechnic 
Institute. 

With  such  a  man  the  young  James  Hall  was  to 
cast  his  lot,  and  keenly  indeed  did  the  man  and 
the  boy  warm  to  each  other.  The  magnet  had 
found  its  armature,  and  Hall  turned  with  unre- 
served delight  to  the  new  practises  in  education  so 
remote  from  the  weary  hours  of  candlelight  at 
home,  poured  out  over  delphine  editions  of  Vergil 
and  Horace.  Hall's  first  love  was  for  botany  and 
his  first  recorded  achievement  was  in  this  line; 


EA  TON  AND  HALL  29 

naturally  enough,  for  his  preceptor  had  been  pro- 
fessor of  botany  in  the  famous  Medical  College  of 
Castleton,  Vermont.  The  "  Catalogue  of  Plants 
Growing  Without  Cultivation  in  the  Vicinity  of 
Troy,  N.  Y.,"  published  in  1832,  was  the  first  ripple 
in  the  long  and  strong  flood  of  scientific  records  to 
flow  from  Mr.  Hall's  pen  for  sixty  years  to  come. 
Here  on  my  desk  lies  a  fragrant  scrap  of  memory 
of  those  days,  a  bit  of  paper  bearing  in  boyish  pen, 
"To  Dr.  T.  R.  Beck;  Ferns,  reeds,  etc.,  for  the 
[Albany]  Institute,  from  James  Hall  Jun."3  We 
shall  have  occasion  to  speak  again  of  Beck,  the 
social  and  scientific  arbiter  of  the  Capital  city  and 
at  this  time  Vice-president  of  the  Rensselaer 
School. 

Professor  Eaton  was  a  well-trained  devotee  of 
the  old  science  of  botany  but  he  was  an  enthusiastic 
pioneer  in  the  new  science  of  geology,  with  notions 
as  to  the  interpretation  of  geological  facts  and 
phenomena  quite  exclusively  his  own.  We  need 
not  pass  his  system  or  his  interpretations  under 
review  here.4  Their  defects  seemed  glaring  to  his 

3  "  James  Hall  Jun."  was  his  usual  signature  at  this  time  and  up 
to  his  father's  death  in  1836. 

4  The  first  edition  of  Eaton's  Geological  Text-Book  was  so  sharply 
attacked  by  a  critic  in  the  North  American  Review  for  April,  1831, 
that  both  General  Van  Rensselaer  and  Professor  Sillknan  came  to 
its  defense  in  the  American  Journal  of  Science.    The  enemy  moved 
upon  these  defenses  in  a  bitter  personal  attack  in  the  short-lived 
Monthly  American  Journal  of  Geology  and  in  this  he  was  supported 
by  its  editor,  G.  W.  Featherstonaugh. 


30  JAMES  HALL 

contemporaries  but  their  merits  have  grown  with 
the  years.  Their  justification,  however,  is  com- 
plete, so  as  they  bore  fruit  in  such  men  as  Douglas 
Houghton,  Ebenezer  Emmons,  James  Hall,  Abram 
Sager,  George  H.  Cook,  Michael  Tuomey,  John 
Wright,  and  Eben  N.  Horsford. 

Here  Hall  came  into  first  contact  with  Dr. 
Ebenezer  Emmons,  a  rather  momentous  conjunc- 
tion for  them  both  and  for  American  geology,  as 
time  would  have  it.  It  was  the  relation  of  student 
to  instructor,  for  Emmons,  at  the  time  of  Hall's 
entrance,  was  Junior  Professor  of  Chemistry  and 
Mineralogy,  and  had  just  issued  for  the  use  of  the 
Rensselaer  students  his  manual  of  mineralogy  and 
geology  which  was  the  best  book  of  its  kind.5 

It  is  not  difficult  to  picture  the  joy  of  Hall's  life 
in  his  years  at  the  school.  Under  the  practical 
guidance  of  enthusiastic  teachers  he  was  brought 
into  direct  contact  with  the  objects  which  his  soul 
had  adored  but  had  hardly  dared  to  cherish.  If  he 
were  ever  troubled  by  an  admonition  of  the  spirit 
over  his  unpractical  love  of  chemistry  and  flowers 
and  sea  life,  his  enthusiasm  crowded  out  the  unwel- 
come intruder  and  he  gave  himself  to  a  revel  of 

6  Manual  of  Mineralogy  and  Geology:  Designed  for  the  use  of 
Schools;  And  for  Persons  attending  Lectures  on  these  Subjects, 
as  also  a  convenient  Pocket  Companion  for  Travellers  in  the  United 
States  of  America.  By  Ebenezer  Emmons,  M.  D.  Adopted  as  a 
Text-Book  in  the  Rensselaer  School.  Albany.  Printed  by  Websters 
and  Skinners.  1826. 


From  a  miniature  about  1832 


THE  BOYS  AT  TROY  31 

his  instincts.  In  his  old  years  he  spoke  often  and 
feelingly  of  his  days  at  Troy  and  his  love  for  his 
preceptor,  Eaton.  But  his  doings  there  were,  to 
him,  nothing  out  of  the  ordinary,  nothing  but  what 
others  about  him  were  doing,  and  so  we  have  his 
own  record  of  but  few  of  the  incidents  of  these 
years. 

We  may  picture  for  a  moment  the  incentives  this 
school  was  imparting  to  its  boys.  It  is  well  to 
remind  ourselves  of  these  early  inspirations.  At 
this  period  every  one  of  these  lads  seems  to  have 
become  entirely  captive  to  some  branch  of  natural 
science,  if  not  to  several.  Abram  Sager6  is  enthu- 

6  Dr.  Abram  Sager,  after  pursuing  his  medical  studies  at  Yale  and 
the  Castleton  (Vt.)  Medical  School,  went  out  to  the  Mississippi  in 
1835  in  search  of  a  place  to  locate  as  a  practitioner,  and  after  vari- 
ous experiences  brought  up  at  Chicago.  "  Famed  Chicago !  "  he 
writes,  "a  city  of  about  3,000  inhabitants,  not  set  upon  a  hill  but 
stuck  in  a  mud-hole  so  deep  that  ordinary  wheeled  vehicles  were 
caught  in  the  mud."  He  left  forthwith  for  Detroit,  settled  down 
for  practise,  and  while  waiting  for  patients  had  plenty  of  time 
for  the  collection  of  birds,  reptiles,  shells  and. plants.  Detroit  was 
then  a  lively  military  post  which  was  attracting  many  civilian  pio- 
neers of  intellectual  tastes,  and  the  interests  of  the  Michigan  terri- 
tory were  effectively  represented  at  Washington  by  Senator  Lucius 
A.  Lyon.  Here  Sager  soon  met  Douglas  Houghton  and  was 
invited  to  join  (1836)  the  Geological  Survey  of  Michigan  in  the 
capacity  of  Botanist  and  Zoologist.  These  departments  were  dis- 
continued in  1840.  That  year  Sager  writes  to  Hall:  "Our  baby 
University  is  expected  to  walk  next  fall " ;  and  Asa  Gray  had  been 
appointed  to  the  chair  of  botany  and  zoology.  Gray  did  not  remain 
long  and  Sager  was  made  his  successor.  Doctor  Sager  created  a 
strong  department  and  a  great  herbarium,  still  known  as  the  Sager 
Herbarium.  Subsequently  he  became  more  intimately  connected 
with  the  Medical  School  of  the  University  as  president  and  pro- 
fessor of  obstetrics  and  materia  medica. 


32  JAMES  HALL 

siastic  over  the  finding  of  a  plant  the  "  Prof."  has 
never  seen  before  in  that  vicinity.  Abel  Storrs  7 
tells  of  the  boxes  of  minerals  under  his  bed;  Wil- 
liam S.  Sanders  writes  out  lengthy  directions  as  to 
where,  when,  and  how  to  collect  the  plants  of  the 
region ;  Samuel  W.  Williams  8  is  negotiating  ex- 
changes of  minerals ;  John  Wright 9  is  covering  all 
the  country  between  Troy  and  Williamstown  in 
search  of  plants  and  reptiles ;  Alexander  Van  Rens- 
selaer  10  was  keenly  engaged  with  "  stones,  weeds, 

7  Abel  Storrs  was  an  adjunct  professor  in  the  school.     Though 
he  settled  down  in  after  life  to  the  prosaic  labor  of  New  England 
farming,  he  maintained  for  years  a  lively  interest  in  every  branch 
of  natural  science. 

8  Samuel  W.  Williams,  better  known  in  after  life  as  S.  Wells 
Williams,  was  the  distinguished  diplomat  and  oriental  scholar  who 
spent  a  large  part  of  his  active  life  in  China,  going  out  in  charge  of 
a  missionary  press  but  eventually  becoming  the  most  eminent  stu- 
dent of  the  Chinese  language  and  dialects  that  America  has  pro- 
duced.    The   later  years   of  his   life  were  spent  as   Professor   of 
Chinese  and  Oriental  Literature  at  Yale  College.     Doctor  Williams 
was  a  life-long  lover  and  collector  of  beautiful  minerals. 

9  Dr.   John    Wright,    Hall's    collaborator   in   the   "  Catalogue    of 
Plants,"  on  the  recommendation  of  Hall  to  Sager,  was  appointed 
botanist  on   the   Michigan   Survey    (1837).     There   seem   to   have 
been  some  heartburnings   in  the  East  over  this  appointment,  and 
Sager  writes  to  Hall  of  the  hostile  attitude  of  Torrey  and  Gray 
toward  this  pupil  of  Eaton.    "They  seem  disposed  to  ask,"  he  says, 
"  can  any  good  come  out  of   the  Rensselaer  Institute  ? "     Doctor 
Wright  died  early. 

10  Alexander  'Van   Rensselaer   was   a   son  of    the   Patroon    and 
Founder,  and  when  he  graduated  chose  medicine  for  his  profession. 
Free  from  any  necessity  to  practise,  he  gave  his  life  almost  wholly 
to  religious  and  philanthropic  work,  and  is  still  remembered  for  his 
good  samaritanism  in  connection  with  the  old  Five  Points  Mission 
in  New  York  City. 


DOUGLAS  HOUGHTON  33 

and  bugs,"  to  use  his  own  language ;  and  Hall  him- 
self, while  searching  the  material  for  his  first  pub- 
lication the  "  Catalogue  of  Plants,"  etc.,11  was 
assembling  minerals  and  fossils  from  all  directions. 
Eaton  tells  of  "  thousands  of  specimens  of  fossils  " 
brought  into  the  lecture  rooms  by  the  pupils.12 

Douglas  Houghton,  to  whose  scientific  survey  of  Michi- 
gan reference  has  been  made,  was  the  first  of  Eaton's 
students  to  attain  distinction  in  science.  He  was  older  than 
the  rest  of  this  interesting  coterie  of  boys,  having  graduated 
in  1829  from  the  Rensselaer  School  to  which,  it  is  said,  he 
had  been  sent  as  a  representative  student  from  the  schools 
of  Chautauqua  county,  N.  Y.,  because  of  his  extraordinary 
qualifications.  While  he  was  still  at  Troy  in  the  capacity  of 
adjunct  professor,  application  was  made  to  Eaton  from  the 
Military  Post  at  Detroit  for  a  lecturer  on  science,  and 
Senator  Lyon  came  on  for  the  purpose  of  seeing  Professor 
Eaton  personally  about  the  matter.  Eaton  recommended 
Houghton,  and  the  young  man,  just  21  years  old,  went  out. 
The  next  year  he  returned  to  his  home  in  Fredonia,  N.  Y., 
and  practised  medicine,  which  he  had  studied  at  Albany  after 
graduation;  but  he  had  become  infected  with  the  western 
fever,  went  off  again  to  join  one  of  Schoolcraft's  expeditions 
up  the  Mississippi  as  physician  and  botanist,  and  was  soon 
back  in  Detroit  pursuing  a  medical  practice.  There  he  was 

11  When  Professor  Hall's  estate  was  broken  up  his  collection  of 
plants  "  from  the  vicinity  of  Troy "  was  found  carefully  laid  away 
and   smoothed  out  between  old  newspapers  of   the   dates    1830   to 
1832:    copies  of  the  Hingham  Gazette,  sent  out   from  home;  and 
of   the  National  Intelligencer,  the  Albany  Gazette,  Troy  Centinel, 
all  with  the  superscription  of  Professor  Eaton;  intimating  how  the 
teacher  had  helped  the  boy  in  preserving  his  collections. 

12  American  Journal  of  Science,  1833,  p.  399. 


34  JAMES  HALL 

active  in  all  civic  matters;  he  organized  the  Michigan  Geo- 
logical Survey,  surrounding  himself  with  young  men  from 
the  Rensselaer  School  as  scientific  assistants ;  became  Mayor 
of  Detroit,  and  Professor  of  Geology  when  the  University 
of  Michigan  was  founded.  The  memory  of  the  "Little 
Doctor  "  is  still  cherished  in  the  State  of  his  adoption. 

Doctor  Houghton  was  drowned  in  Lake  Superior  in  1845, 
by  the  upsetting  of  his  canoe  while  on  one  of  his  geological 
expeditions. 

Hall  was  just  reaching  his  majority  as  time  for 
graduation  from  the  Rensselaer  School  came,  in 
1832.  At  this  point  of  his  life  we  may  picture  him 
as  a  stocky  young  fellow  of  hard  muscles  and  per- 
fect organic  functions;  an  expanding  calvarium 
thatched  with  thick,  black  hair  overhung  a  pair  of 
confiding,  half-frightened,  pale-blue  eyes  which 
seemed  out  of  keeping  with  his  tough  biceps,  his 
brazen  gluteus  and  his  easy  irascibility,  but  were 
nevertheless,  when  making  a  new  acquaintance, 
an  index  to  an  absolutely  trustful  but  watchful 
reception.  His  physical  vigor  always  fine,  he  was 
never  sick.  When  he  started  for  St.  Petersburg, 
at  eighty-five,  his  physician  assured  him  that 
his  organs  were  in  perfect  condition.  When  he 
died  he  was  .not  sick  —  he  simply  stopped  living. 
But  all  his  life  his  nervous  system  was  strung  taut 
as  an  aeolian  harp,  and  mournful  discords  it  gave 
out  when  the  wind  blew  from  the  wrong  quarter. 
"  He  has  been  a  dying  man  for  fifty  years,"  once 


A  SCHOOL  OF  MANY  ARTS  35 

said  to  me  his  venerable  physician,  Dr.  Thomas 
Hun.  In  perfect  health  of  body  and  mind,  Hall 
gathered  up  the  inspirations  he  had  caught  in  the 
Rensselaer  School,  and  graduated. 

The  class  of  1832  was  not  a  large  class.  It  had 
but  four  members.  Of  these  one  became  a  physi- 
cian, one  a  railroad  president,  and  the  fourth  was 
the  distinguished  orientalist  to  whom  we  have  just 
referred,  S.  Wells  Williams.  A  better  idea  of  the 
men  then  made  in  this  school  may  be  drawn  from 
a  larger  class  of  this  period.  I  take  the  class  of 
1829,  of  eleven  men.  Of  these  three  became 
physicians,  two  lawyers,  one  a  teacher,  one  a 
minister,  one  a  civil  engineer,  one  a  geologist 
(Houghton),  and  two  died  too  early  for  a  career. 
The  school  was  surely  a  school  of  "  many  arts  " 
long  before  it  had  assumed  the  name  of  Polytechnic 
Institute  and  attained  its  eminent  standing  as  a 
school  of  the  "  many  arts  "  of  engineering. 

Thus  in  1832,  Hall  was  set  free;  equipped  with 
high  power  enthusiasm  for  natural  history,  a  large 
capital  of  seemingly  unpractical  information,  and 
what  might  have  been  to  some  boys,  an  uncom- 
fortable indebtedness. 

One  of  the  incidents  of  Hall's  senior  year,  which 
has  become  a  matter  of  important  record,  is  his 
visit  to  the  Academy  at  Albany  in  company  with 
Abel  Storrs  to  see  the  curious  and  interesting 
experiments  which  were  being  carried  on  there  by 


36  JAMES  HALL 

Professor  Joseph  Henry,  to  whose  geological  work 
we  have  already  referred.  Hall  brought  a  letter 
of  introduction  from  Eaton  to  Henry,  and  he  was 
thus  permitted  to  visit  the  famous  "  upper  room  " 
of  this  historic  Academy  and  watch  Henry  send  a 
current  from  a  simple  galvanic  cell  through  a  mile 
of  copper  wire  and  into  induction  coils,  creating  a 
magnet  by  whose  attraction  a  bell  was  struck  at  the 
distant  end.  I  think  I  must  be  one  of  the  few  per- 
sons living  who  has  heard  a  witness  of  this  classic 
experiment  of  1832  describe  it,  and  it  is  little  won- 
der that  this  diminutive  bell  which  rang  out  the 
first  proclamation  of  modern  electrical  achievement 
is  prized  and  enshrined  in  the  State  Museum  for 
its  message  to  mankind.  Long  years  after,  when 
Professor  Henry  had  been  compelled  by  Morse  to 
prove  in  the  courts  his  priority  in  the  demonstra- 
tion of  these  elementary  principles  of  electrical 
transmission,  he  asked  Hall  to  write  out  his  recol- 
lections of  this  visit,  and  they  have  been  set  down 
among  the  memorials  of  the  great  discoverer.13 
(See  later  page.) 

To  his  teacher  Hall  ever  acknowledged  his  pro- 
found indebtedness,  and  the  tribute  he  paid  to 
Eaton  at  the  semicentennial  of  the  Rensselaer  Insti- 
tute seems  to  be  the  just  and  adequate  testimonial 
of  one  who  best  understood  the  man : 

13  See  Memorial  of  Joseph  Henry   (published  by  order  of  Con- 
gress), p.  381,  1880. 


EATON  AND  EDGERTON  37 

"  In  the  progress  of  civilization  it  is  not  the  slow  uni- 
form motion  of  the  great  masses  that  helps  it  forward,  but 
the  few  men  who  come  out  from  them  and  strike  a  new  key. 
Professor  Eaton  taught  us  the  manipulations  in  science  with 
the  simplest  materials,  so  that  a  student  could  go  into  the 
forest  and  construct  a  pneumatic  trough  or  a  balance,  and 
perform  there  his  experiments  in  chemistry  or  physics.  To 
his  memory  we  owe  much.  His  name  has  been  neglected 
before  the  public,  but  cherished  in  the  bosoms  of  those  who 
knew  him  —  a  man  capable  of  interesting  young  men,  hav- 
ing a  brain  one- fourth  larger  than  that  of  the  mass  of  man- 
kind, and  that  brain  devoted  to  the  services  of  science.  If 
we  with  great  means  do  what  he  did  with  small,  we  shall 
deserve  well  of  coming  generations."  14 

14  The  references  we  have  made  to  Professor  Eaton  and  the  tre- 
mendous influence  he  exerted  on  the  youth  of  Hall's  generation 
through  his  novel  educational  practises,  may  well  be  supplemented 
by  allusion  to  the  influences  of  Fay  Edgerton,  a  graduate  of  the 
Rensselaer  School  in  1826.  Mr.  Edgerton,  imbued  with  Eaton's 
enthusiasm,  became  a  teacher  of  science  in  the  Utica  High  School, 
and  James  D.  Dana  and  Wells  Williams  were  among  his  pupils. 
"  Great  was  the  delight  of  the  boys,"  says  Dana,  "  in  [his]  botanical 
and  mineralogical  experiments  and  their  pleasure,  too,  in  the  lec- 
tures in  chemistry."  At  that  time  Doctor  James  Hadley  was  not 
far  away,  as  professor  of  chemistry  and  materia  medica  at  the  Col- 
lege of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  of  the  Western  District  of  New 
York,  at  Fairfield  —  he  of  whose  distinguished  son  it  has  been  often 
said  by  an  even  more  distinguished  grandson  (the  late  President  of 
Yale  University),  that  the  most  effective  training  in  science  given  in 
his  day  at  Yale  College  was  his  father's  course  in  Freshman  Greek. 
Asa  Gray,  whose  name  still  leads  the  list  in  American  botany,  was 
Hadley's  pupil  at  Fairfield  and  Mr.  Edgerton's  successor  in  the  high 
school  at  Utica.  Mr.  Edgerton's  life  was  short,  but  even  in  my 
own  day  as  a  teacher  in  succession  in  the  Utica  school,  there  were 
traditions  and  traces  of  him  still  influencing  or  having  influenced 
lovers  of  natural  science  there;  of  whom  were  Watson  Williams 
and  Robert  S.  Williams,  father  of  the  late  Professor  George  H. 


38  JAMES  HALL 

Professor  Eaton  was  a  prolific  writer  of  texts  on 
science ;  he  swept  the  entire  circle,  but  it  happened 
that  he  did  not  prepare  his  "  Geological  Text- 
Book  "  until  about  the  time  of  Hall's  arrival  at  the 
school,  and  the  second  edition  of  the  book  with  the 
first  illustrations  of  fossils,  in  June  1832,  just  at 
the  time  of  Hall's  graduation.  This  book  set  forth 
his  very  positive  declaration  of  dependence  upon 
the  classification  of  rock  formations  adopted  by 
European  geologists,  but  at  the  same  time  at- 
tempted one  of  his  own  which,  though  obviously 
based  on  too  feeble  knowledge,  yet  contained  the 
germ  of  an  important  conception ;  that  of  cycles  of 
sedimentation,  or  the  rhythm  in  the  rise  and  fall 
of  the  sea  bottom  indicated  by  repetitive  succession 
of  coarse  to  fine  and  fine  to  coarse.  Indeed,  this 
seems  to  have  been  the  first  enunciation  of  a  prin- 
ciple which  is  now  fundamental  to  accepted  inter- 

Williams,  geologist  of  Johns  Hopkins  University;  Egbert  Bagg  and 
Ezekiel  Jewett. 

And  perhaps  these  memories  of  Eaton,  a  man  whose  influences  have 
fertilized  generations  of  students,  should  not  be  unaccompanied  by  a 
passing  reflection  upon  the  remarkable  inscription  of  his  first  text- 
book, the  Manual  of  Botany  (1818).  In  words  almost  of  invocation 
he  calls  upon  the  Reverend  Zephaniah  Swift  Moore,  the  Reverend 
Professor  Chester  Dewey  and  the  Reverend  Professor  Ebenezer 
Kellogg,  to  accept  that  testimonial  of  his  gratitude:  "I  am  in- 
debted to  you,"  he  says,  "  for  a  passport  into  the  scientific  world ; 
after  that  protracted  series  of  misfortunes  which  sunk  me  to  the 
lowest  ebb  of  human  misery."  To  have  turned,  with  the  uplifting 
hand  of  science,  such  a  spirit  from  darkness  to  light  and  set  him 
up  upon  his  feet  again,  was  in  truth  a  service  to  mankind. 


TRAMPS  AFIELD  39 

pretations  of  stratigraphic  succession,  and  as  we 
look  back  over  the  historical  development  of  the 
science  it  is  to  justify  Eaton  in  the  recognition  of 
geological  succession  so  controlled  as  not  to  fit  the 
European  categories.  He  failed  to  fortify  his 
propositions,  his  contemporaries  reprobated  them 
and  his  successors  ignored  them;  until  John  S. 
Newberry,  a  half-century  after,  brought  forward 
the  conception  in  clearer  definition,  and  Charles 
Schuchert  interpreted  it  in  terms  of  changing 
continental  shelves. 

School  over,  Hall  started  off  afoot  to  make  a 
geological  tour  through  the  Helderberg  Mountains 
whose  base  lies  twenty-five  miles  away  to  the  south 
of  Troy.  No  one  but  the  young  geologists  of  the 
Rensselaer  School  knew  much  in  those  days  of  this 
extraordinary  plateau  of  palaeozoic  rocks,  where 
the  formations  rise  in  successive  and  almost  hori- 
zontal terraces,  with  sharp  delineation,  from  the 
upturned  strata  of  the  Lower  Silurian  below,  into 
the  Old  Red  Sandstone  of  the  Catskills  which  cap 
them.  It  is  the  section  which  Sir  Charles  Lyell, 
when  "  pumping  "  through  this  country  ten  years 
later,  said  every  geologist  must  know  if  he  were  to 
understand  his  science.15  I  presume  this  trip  must 

15  The  distinguished  author  of  the  "  Principles  of  Geology  "  was 
known  to  his  colleagues  of  many  countries  as  "The  Pump,"  a 
jocular  reference  to  his  acquisitiveness  of  their  information  and  his 
practise  of  putting  them  through  critical  cross-examinations. 


40  JAMES  HALL 

have  been  by  way  of  the  Indian  Ladder  to  the  lofty 
first  terrace  which  commands  the  extraordinary 
panorama  of  the  confluent  rivers,  the  Mohawk  and 
Hudson,  thence  on  up  across  the  "  Sparry  lime- 
stone "  and  "  Cocktail  grit  "  and  "  Cornitif  erous  " 
into  the  "  Greywacke  "  of  Rensselaerville,  and  then 
probably  down  into  the  Schoharie  Valley  where  the 
rock  sections  had  already  been  deciphered  by  the 
John  Gebhards,  senior  and  junior.16 

16  When  the  history  of  geology  in  the  State  of  New  York  shall 
have  been  fully  written,  the  pioneer  work  of  these  Schoharie  men 
will  be  given  its  better  share.  In  the  years  of  the  18203  and 
probably  earlier,  John  Gebhard,  a  fanner  at  Schoharie  Court  House, 
was  studying  the  limestone  caverns  of  this  retired  and  beautiful 
valley  and  collecting  therefrom1  their  quite  extraordinary  minerals : 
strontianites,  celestites,  gypsums,  barites,  etc.  Little  knowledge  of 
such  things  had  found  its  way  into  the  complacent  meadows  and 
hills  of  this  embrasure,  but  gradually  the  collector  came  in  touch 
with  those  of  the  outside  world  who  were  zealously  appreciative  of 
his  discoveries  and  eager  to  share  in  them.  A  bundle  of  his  letters 
on  my  desk,  of  the  18205  and  early  '305,  shows  how  eagerly  he  was 
pursuing  the  exchange  of  these  .Schoharie  minerals  for  those  of 
other  sorts  from  elsewhere.  There  are  negotiations  with  James 
Hadley  of  Fairfield  Academy;  with-  Huberts  Peale  of  Philadelphia; 
William  Horton  of  Goshen,  afterwards  an  assistant  to  Mather  on 
the  Geological  Survey;  Ebenezer  Emmons  and  Professor  Eaton. 
There  .was  little  light  to  guide  this  Schoharie  pioneer  —  Cleaveland's 
Mineralogy,  perhaps,  and  the  accounts  of  Buckland's  discoveries  in 
the  Kirkdale  caverns;  but  the  name  and  doings  of  William  Smith 
had  then  hardly  reached  even  the  college  centers  of  America.  Hugh 
Miller  wa's  still  carving  gravestones  at  Cromarty  and  Robert  Dick 
baking  loaves  in  his  Thurso  ovens.  But  John  Gebhard,  with  the 
help  of  his  much-loved  but  illegal  son,  was  doing  in  New  York  in 
1820-30  what  the  founder  of  historical  geology,  "  Strata "  Smith, 
had  done  in  the  counties  of  England:  collecting  the  unnamed  fos- 
sils of  the  rocks,  arranging  them  according  to  the  strata  in  which 


JOHN  GEBHARD  41 

Back  from  this  fifty-mile  tramp,  his  sack  and 
pockets  full  of  fossils,  Hall  seems  suddenly  to 
awaken  to  the  fact  that  all  his  money  is  gone  and 
that  he  is  without  resources  or  prospects.  Perhaps 

they  were  found,  and  so  by  their  aid  tracing  the  rock  formations 
throughout  the  extent  of  the  Schoharie  hills.  All  this  was  done 
under  an  instinctive  guidance  aided  little  by  suggestions  from  with- 
out, and  this  is  an  extraordinary  fact  when  set  alongside  the  influ- 
ences which  impelled  William  Smith,  Miller,  and  Dick.  When 
Eaton's  "  Text-book "  reached  Schoharie,  Gebhard  wrote  to  its 
author  telling  him  something  of  his  own  work,  assuring  him  that 
he  had  a  better  rock  section  than  Eaton  had  seen,  "  full  of  organic 
remains,"  sent  him  a  profile  of  it,  and  told  him  about  his  fine  "  lily- 
encrinite,  the  first  that  has  been  found  in  this  country." 

When  the  Natural  History  Survey  was  started,  John  Gebhard,  Jr., 
was  appointed  by  Mather  as  assistant  for  this  part  of  the  First 
District,  but  Mather  fails  to  say  that  the  rock  section  which  he 
printed  in  1843  had  been  worked  out  by  the  Gebhards  nearly  twenty 
years  before.  After  the  Survey  was  over  and  the  State  Museum 
was  organized,  John  Junior  was  made  its  curator.  Twice  his  great 
collections  were  purchased  for  the  use  of  Hall  in  his  preparation 
of  the  Palaeontology.  He  did  not  long  remain  in  Albany,  but 
went  back  among  the  Schoharie  hills  to  fulfil  his  duties  as  Justice 
of  the  Peace  in  his  valley  and  to  follow  the  desire  of  his  heart,  the 
peaceful  pursuit  of  fossil  hunting.  In  his  old  age  he  came  back  to 
the  Museum  again.  Born  in  1800,  the  same  year  as  Emmons  and 
Hugh  Miller,  "  Squire "  Gebhard  was  86  when  I  first  knew  him. 
He  was  a  benignant  man,  honored  and  greatly  beloved  in  his  val- 
ley for  deeds  of  kindness  that  are  the  crown  of  science.  Full  of 
interesting  reminiscences,  he  has  told  me  of  the  visit  which  Lyell 
made  in  1841  to  see  his  fossils ;  and  when  the  eminent  traveler  was 
shown  a  slab  of  the  "  Tentaculite  limestone,"  covered  with  the  awl- 
shaped  shells,  he  declared  them  to  be  spines  of  a  sea-urchin,  advis- 
ing Gebhard  to  look  out  for  the  body  of  the  animal  from  which 
they  were  broken.  He  did  look  out  for  it  and  in  due  time  discov- 
ered the  great  chambered  crinoid-bulb,  Comoro crinus,  which  he 
characterized  as  "  Lyell's  sea-urchin."  John  Gebhard,  Jr.,  died  in 
Albany  late  in  the  year  1886. 


42  JAMES  HALL 

even  there  intruded  on  his  reflections  the  money  he 
had  borrowed  for  his  education,  and  a  certain 
troublesome  note  for  four  hundred  dollars  which 
he  had  given  to  Ebenezer  Emmons.  Professor 
Stevenson  tells  the  story  that  Hall,  busied  in  pack- 
ing up  his  traps  preparatory  to  leaving  Troy,  was 
interrupted  by  Eaton,  who  asked;  "  Hall,  what  are 
you  doing?  "  He  was  packing  up;  he  had  no  more 
money  and  no  way  to  earn  any;  he  didn't  know 
just  where  he  was  going  or  what  he  was  going  to 
do.  "  We  can  arrange  all  that,"  said  Eaton,  and 
told  him  to  stay.  In  keeping  this  promise  he  made 
a  place  for  Hall  as  librarian  of  the  school  in  the 
reading  room  of  the  Old  Bank  Place  building,  the 
first  home  of  the  institution  on  the  river  shore  at 
the  corner  of  Middleburgh  Street. 

The  young  man  was  now  a  B.  N.  S.  (Bachelor  of 
Natural  Science),  that  being  his  graduation  title. 
Soon  he  received  his  Master  of  Arts,  and  in  the 
same  summer  was  made  "Assistant  to  the  Junior 
Professor  of  Chemistry."  Thereupon  he  was  off 
to  Carbondale  to  collect  "  vegetable  fossils,"  as 
Eaton  called  them,  and  on  the  basis  of  the  large 
collections  of  fossil  ferns  he  brought  home,  Eaton 
was  able  to  determine  to  his  own  satisfaction  that 
the  Pennsylvania  coals  were  of  "  secondary  "  age 
and  thus  equivalent  to  those  of  Europe.17 

17  American  Journal  of  Science,  1833,  vol.  23,  p.  399.  See  also 
John  J.  Stevenson's  graceful  memorial  tribute  of  Hall  given  before 
the  Geological  Society  of  America.  Bulletin  v.  10,  p.  426,  1898. 


COUNTRY  LECTURES  43 

The  young  professor  was  now  settled  for  a  while 
in  Troy  while  his  classmates  scattered.  That  he 
was  a  successful  teacher  of  chemistry  and  very 
greatly  esteemed  by  the  students  there  is  plenty  of 
evidence.  His  salary  was  only  a  few  hundred  dol- 
lars but  he  was  permitted  to  earn  what  he  could 
outside,  so  he  lectured  over  the  countryside  —  on 
chemistry  at  Waterford,  and  on  chemistry  and 
botany  at  Hoosick  Four  Corners.  In  Hingham 
days  he  had  thought  of  studying  medicine,  and  now 
he  did  do  something  at  it,  just  how  much  we  do 
not  know.  A  classmate  who  is  doing  the  same 
thing  in  a  country  village  in  Washington  county 
urges  him  to  come  there,  and  if  he  was  short  of 
money  "  he  can  get  board  and  washing  for  $1.50 
a  week."  Hall  did  not  go,  but  in  after  years  he 
received  from  the  University  of  Maryland  the 
honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine,  perhaps 
in  recognition  of  these  intentions.  He  kept  closely 
in  touch  with  his  scattered  friends,  urging  them  to 
make  collections,  especially  of  minerals,  and  to 
exchange  with  him;  and  he  was  soon  writing  and 
exchanging  all  over  the  country  wherever  he  could 
find  a  man  who  had  anything  in  the  line  of  scien- 
tific objects  to  exchange. 

In  those  museumless  days  there  was  no  way  for 
the  student  of  natural  science  except  to  build 
up  his  own  collections,  and  Hall's  extraordinary 
acquisitiveness  swept  him  far  afield  in  this  scientific 


44  JAMES  HALL 

business;  indeed  his  collections  came  to  play  a 
large  part  in  his  active  service  not  alone  for  their 
scientific  worth  but  because  in  fact  they  furnished 
the  financial  support  of  many  of  his  scientific 
undertakings. 

Hall's  affairs  over  his  collections  run  completely 
through  his  life  and  did  not  even  terminate  with 
his  death,  for  the  largest  asset  of  his  estate  was  the 
great  collection  of  fossils,  minerals,  and  books  he 
left  behind.  From  these  early  days  of  youth  at 
Troy,  his  collections  were  a  matter  of  exchange, 
barter  and  purchase,  and  so  they  continued  to  be 
to  the  end.  When  the  New  York  Geological 
Survey  was  under  weigh  the  geologists  were  free 
to  make  collections  for  themselves  and  they  all  did 
so.  Afterward,  when  Hall  organized  collecting  on 
a  larger  scale  for  the  purposes  of  the  Palaeontology 
of  New  York,  he  was  allowed  by  law  to  take  one- 
half  for  himself,  and  that  one-half  represented 
perhaps  the  one-half  of  his  own  money  he  put  into 
them.  As  he  bought,  so  he  sold  in  order  to  buy 
more;  and  when  the  day  of  museums  began  to 
dawn,  when  colleges  and  universities  were  seeking 
scientific  collections,  he  sold  in  order  to  begin  all 
over  again.  Such  procedure  on  the  part  of  a  pub- 
lic official  and  director  of  a  public  museum  invited 
invidious  criticism  and  was  indeed  a  dangerous 
practise,  but  he  cared  nothing  for  the  criticism ;  and 


RENSSELAER  AND  YALE  45 

while  many  a  strutting  moralist  whispered  tales  of 
his  derelictions,  he  went  on  selling  his  lands  and  his 
securities  that  he  might  get  together  the  materials 
he  needed  for  the  work  he  had  in  hand.  His 
acquisitiveness  was  a  virtue  without  the  practise  of 
which  he  knew  his  work  could  not  be  perfected, 
and  hence  it  was  boldly  and  manfully  pursued. 

That  Hall  was  beloved  of  his  pupils  at  Troy 
there  are  sheaves  of  evidence ;  that  he  was  honored 
as  an  inspiring  teacher  and  investigator  there  is 
not  only  the  unfailing  support  of  Eaton  and  Van 
Rensselaer  to  show,  but  such  words  as  these  from 
Abram  Sager,  who  had  gone  on  to  complete  his 
studies  at  Yale  and  writes  from  there  in  1832: 

"  With  respect  to  the  standing  of  the  Rensselaer  Institute 
in  this  place  I  know  but  little  for,  except  by  way  of  interro- 
gation, I  hear  nothing  about  it.  You  may  form  your 
opinion  from  this  silence  on  the  subject  but  this  I  can  say 
for  myself  respecting  the  chemical  course  at  this  place  and 
such  as  you  had  last  summer.  I  should  prefer  your  one 
to  two  of  these  courses.  T^is  true  the  experiments  at  the 
Yale  College  Laboratory  are  brilliant  and  impressive  of 
course,  but  it  is  not  like  entering  heart  and  hand  in  the  busi- 
ness, as  at  the  Rensselaer  Institute  and  believe  me,  dear  sir, 
I  have  learned  to  appreciate  the  value  of  the  method  of 
instruction  at  the  latter  place  more  fully  than  ever  before 
and  shall  ever  cherish  the  recollections  of  time,  place  and 
other  circumstances  of  the  school  when  I  stayed  there,  with 
the  fondness  which  an  initiation  in  the  sciences  is  calculated 
to  inspire  in  an  ardent  mind." 


46  JAMES  HALL 

To  which  Sager  adds  in  a  later  letter : 

"  The  natural  sciences  are  cultivated  at  this  place  with  con- 
siderable ardor  and  success  but  still  not  as  much  as  I  ex- 
pected to  find  them.  To  my  knowledge  at  least,  there  are 
but  few  who  devote  much  time  to  those  delightful  pursuits ; 
among  the  college  students  Mr.  James  Dana,  the  friend  and 
correspondent  of  S.  W.  Williams,  is,  I  believe,  reckoned  the 
most  successful,  indefatigable  votary." 

And  we  may  add  here  Sager's  singularly  brilliant 
portrait  of  the  great  Silliman  in  action : 

"  How  are  matters  and  things  in  general  at  the  Old  Bank  ? 
Prof.  Silliman  has  a  few  days  since  finished  his  mineralogic- 
geological  lectures  which  I  have  had  the  pleasure  of  hearing. 
You  have  doubtless  read  his  Tour  to  Quebec,  etc.,  and 
marked  the  glowing  style  in  which  it  is  written.  It  is  not 
changed  any  more  in  his  lectures  than  the  subject  requires 
and  sometimes  not  that.  Perfectly  at  home  among  the  wreck 
and  ruins  of  the  world,  in  either  hand  balancing  a  flood  of 
waters  and  a  lake  of  fire  before  his  respectable  and  attentive 
auditors,  he  stands  like  some  kind  but  mighty  spirit  sent  to 
instill  into  the  minds  of  the  rising  generation  the  sublime 
but  awful  mysteries  of  the  past  creation,  himself  filled  to 
bursting  nigh  with  the  majesty  and  grandeur  of  the  subject." 

All  during  the  years  of  the  Geological  Survey 
Mr.  Hall  kept  a  more  or  less  active  association  with 
the  Rensselaer  School,  as  professor  of  chemistry 
from  1835-41 ;  and  thereafter,  for  decades,  as  pro- 
fessor of  mineralogy  and  geology;  largely  a  posi- 
tion of  courtesy,  for  in  all  this  time  he  seldom 
lectured  and  his  name  was  carried  on  the  faculty 


TEACHING  AT  TROY  47 

list  as  a  mutual  distinction.  From  this  connection 
he  derived  his  title  to  the  appellation  of  "  Pro- 
fessor," which  throughout  his  active  life  was  his 
preference. 

So  Professor  Hall,  teaching  at  the  school  and 
lecturing  in  the  nearby  villages;  conducting  his 
boys  on  field  trips  to  the  Schoharie  caves,  the 
Helderbergs,  to  Kingston,  to  Carbondale  and 
Easton,  Penna.,  buying  and  selling  minerals  and 
fossils;  helping  backward  students  over  hard 
places;  lending  the  poor  ones  money  to  pay  their 
way;  spending  scraps  of  time  in  tidying  up  the 
school,  whitewashing  the  "  Old  Bank  Building  "  or 
straightening  up  the  "  sheep-pen  "  (the  inglorious 
name  that  Aleck  Van  Rensselaer  gives  to  the  study 
room  of  the  girl  students  of  the  school) ;  with 
vacation  days  at  Hingham  and  collecting  trips  to 
Acworth  after  beryls  and  to  Chesterfield  for  tour- 
malines ;  making  trips  to  the  Rossie  lead  mines  for 
General  Van  Rensselaer  and  reaping  a  great  har- 
vest of  beautiful  minerals ;  thus  his  time  was  spent 
till  the  movement  to  organize  the  great  State  Sur- 
vey was  afoot. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY  OF  NEW  YORK— ITS 
ORGANIZATION  AND  FIRST  YEAR,  1836-1837 

Popular  appreciation  of  the  Survey  —  Influences  in  its 
organization  —  Learned  Societies  —  T.  Romeyn  Beck  — 
Earlier  influence  of  Governor  Clinton  —  Hibernicus  — 
Plan  of  John  A.  Dix  —  The  Four  Geologists ;  the  Geo- 
logical Board  —  Governor  Marcy  appoints  Edward 
Hitchcock,  William  W.  Mather,  Ebenezer  Emmons, 
Timothy  A.  Conrad,  Lardner  Vanuxem  —  The  assist- 
ants; James  Eights,  Ezra  S.  Carr,  George  W.  Boyd, 
James  Hall  —  Constitution  of;  the  four  Districts  — 
Hall's  first  season,  1836 — Reconstitution  of  the  Third 
and  Fourth  Districts  —  Conrad  retires  —  Hall  made 
Chief  Geologist  of  the  Fourth  District. 

AS  any  adequate  story  of  Hall's  career  must  in 
effect  resolve  itself  into  a  history  of  geo- 
logical science  in  New  York  in  the  nine- 
teenth century,  with  innumerable  sidelights  on  the 
development  of  geology  in  America,  it  is  here 
proper  to  interpolate  a  few  paragraphs  regarding 
the  influences  which  brought  into  being  the  Natural 
History  Survey  of  New  York.  This  organized 
Survey  of  the  great  commonwealth  was  a  really 
notable  event  in  its  civic  history.  It  was  so  re- 
garded by  its  people,  for  it  was  warmly  espoused 
and  its  results  warmly  appreciated.  It  was  allowed 

[48] 


JOHN  A.  DIX  49 

to  follow  its  original  plan,  complete  its  projected 
course,  publish  its  reports  with  fullness  and  dig- 
nity, and  to  leave  an  impression  so  favorable  both 
with  the  people  and  their  representatives  that, 
upon  its  formal  conclusion,  one  of  its  departments, 
palaeontology,  was  continued,  and  a  new  one, 
agriculture,  was  erected.  Compared  with  some  of 
the  other  States,  New  York  was  slow  in  getting  its 
Geological  Survey  started,  but  up  to  that  time  no 
State  had  undertaken  such  a  comprehensive  scheme 
for  a  general  scientific  survey. 

The  contributing  influences  which  through  the 
years  were  focusing  public  attention  on  the  need 
of  such  a  survey,  have  been  often  estimated,  and 
perhaps  never  more  clearly  marshaled  than  by 
John  A.  Dix  when  as  Secretary  of  State  he  set 
them  forth  in  response  to  a  request  of  the  New 
York  Legislature  made  in  pursuance  of  a  memorial 
from  the  Albany  Institute  in  1834.  Though  the 
Albany  Institute,  the  Society  for  the  Promotion  of 
Agriculture,  the  American  Institute  of  the  City 
of  New  York,  and  other  active  learned  societies 
had  urged,  consistently  and  continuously,  an  under- 
taking of  the  scope  of  this  Natural  History  Survey, 
petitions  and  memorials  for  such  an  end  are  seldom 
so  effective  as  the  controlling  direct  touch  of  an 
influential  personage.  Before  the  birth  of  the  Rens- 
selaer  School,  Amos  Eaton  had  lectured  on  science 
to  the  New  York  Legislature  of  1818  and  later 

4 


50  JAMES  HALL 

years.  His  power  in  that  quarter  was  thus  a  pon- 
derable quantity.  General  Van  Rensselaer's  com- 
manding influence  was  so  actively  thrown  in  favor 
of  this  public  project  that  he  not  only  intimated 
preferences  when  the  appointments  were  made,  but 
he  actually  acted  as  banker  for  the  appointees  when 
they  could  not  afford  to  wait  for  their  salaries  upon 
the  slow  procedures  of  the  State's  fiscal  officer. 
Theodoric  Romeyn  Beck,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  the 
Institutes  of  Medicine  in  the  College  of  Physicians 
and  Surgeons  of  the  Western  District  of  New 
York  (Fairfield),  internationally  known  for  his 
writings  on  medical  jurisprudence,  a  Vice-presi- 
dent of  the  Rensselaer  School,  Principal  of  the 
Albany  Academy,  Secretary  of  the  learned  Albany 
Institute,  and  finally  Secretary  to  the  Board  of 
Regents  of  the  University;  he  it  was  who  com- 
manded the  destiny  of  such  affairs  at  Albany.  To 
use  Hall's  expression,  "  he  ran  everything."  His 
tastes  were  scientific;  his  brother,  Lewis  C.,  was 
teacher  of  mineralogy  at  the  Rensselaer  School; 
personally,  socially,  and  officially,  Doctor  Beck's 
influence  was  very  great,  and  in  giving  substantial 
impulse  to  this  projected  Survey,  his  judgment  was 
much  regarded  in  the  executive  chamber. 

Back  of  these  personal  influences  lay  one  earlier 
and  still  greater.  It  was  the  voice  of  DeWitt  Clin- 
ton crying  in  the  wilderness  for  a  better  knowledge 
and  better  utilization  of  the  natural  resources  of 


SURVEY  IS  ORGANIZED  51 

the  State.  It  was  a  voice  that  had  become  attuned 
to  the  vast  possibilities  of  the  State  during  the  pro- 
jection and  execution  of  his  "  big  ditch,"  the  Erie 
Canal.  In  his  journeyings  back  and  forth  through 
the  country -'it  traversed,  and  during  his  three  terms 
as  Governor  of  the  State,  Clinton's  letters,  pretend- 
ing to  be  the  observations  of  an  Irish  gentleman 
traveling  through  the  State  and  published  under 
the  pen-name  "  Hibernicus,"  show  how  intently 
his  mind  was  addressed  to  this  matter  of  its  natural 
resources.1 

Following  the  plan  of  organization  advanced  by 
the  Secretary  of  State,  Mr.  Dix,  the  Legislature  of 
1836  made  provision  forthwith  for  the  Geological 
Survey.  Under  this  plan  no  one  man  was  to  be 
"  State  Geologist,"  but  the  State  was  to  be  divided 
into  four  parts  and  men  of  equal  authority  and,  it 
was  hoped,  equal  competency,  were  to  be  put  in 
charge,  one  for  each  section.  This  was  an  extra- 
ordinary provision  which  could  have  come  only 
from  the  fine  and  broad  perceptions  of  Mr.  Dix 
and  his  counselors.  New  York,  with  its  nearly 
fifty  thousand  square  miles,  was  a  State  of  great 
area,  too  large,  it  was  thought,  for  one  man  to 
command.  There  were  few  experienced  or  well- 

1 "  Letters  on  the  Natural  History  and  Internal  Resources  of  the 
State  of  New  York:  By  Hibernicus".  These  letters  "first  ap- 
peared in  the  columns  of  a  newspaper  during  the  year  1820";  in 
book  form  in  1822. 


52  JAMES  HALL 

trained  geologists  among  its  citizens  and  none  for 
so  great  a  task.  So  it  was  roughly  divided  by 
physiographic  provinces,  and  it  was  evident  that 
the  chief  officers  for  these  districts  would  have  to 
be  taken  from  outside.  Such  an  arrangement 
would  provide,  it  was  believed,  for  an  harmonious 
verdict  after  full  discussions  in  council.  It  was  a 
provision  that  led  to  most  important  results  for 
the  organization  of  American  science,  even  though 
in  the  final  decisions  there  was  often  one  dissenting 
voice  and  a  minority  report.  The  joint  conferences 
of  the  Geological  Board  led  to  the  organization  of 
the  Society  of  American  Geologists,  later  to  the 
foundation  of  the  American  Association  for  the 
Advancement  of  Science;  and  the  minority  report 
brought  on  the  years-long  debate  over  the  "  Ta- 
conic  question,"  with  all  its  important  determina- 
tions of  fact,  its  cross-purposes  and  its  acrimo- 
nious personalities.  It  was  not  often  that  William 
L.  Marcy,  then  Governor,  let  go  a  chance  for  the 
practise  of  party  politics,  but  in  his  appointments 
to  these  positions  he  eschewed  them  entirely, 
and  offered  the  first  commission  to  the  Reverend 
Doctor  Edward  Hitchcock  of  Amherst  College, 
whose  Geological  Survey  of  Massachusetts  had 
given  him  prime  standing  in  this  science.  To 
Doctor  Hitchcock  was  to  go  the  charge  of  the  First 
District;  that  is,  the  southeastern  district  of  the 
State  from  the  Mohawk  river  down,  including  the. 


GOVERNOR  MARCY  APPOINTS       53 

Helderberg  and  Catskill  regions,  and  all  the  Hud- 
son Valley  counties.  It  was  the  most  accessible,  in 
its  geology  the  most  varied,  and  in  many  respects 
the  most  difficult  part  of  the  State.  Doctor  Hitch- 
cock declined  his  appointment;  it  was  too  far  off; 
he  had  a  young  and  growing  family  and  he  could 
not  stay  away  from  them  so  long. 

The  choice  of  the  Executive  then  fell  upon  four 
men  for  the  four  districts,  all  younger  than  Hitch- 
cock and  all  from  outside  the  State:  William  W. 
Mather  of  Ohio,  for  the  First  or  southeastern  Dis- 
trict; Ebenezer  Emmons,  who  had  by  this  time 
removed  from  Troy  and  was  a  resident  of  Massa- 
chusetts, was  selected  for  the  Second  District; 
Lardner  Vanuxem  of  Bristol,  Penna.,  and  Timothy 
A.  Conrad  of  Philadelphia,  for  the  Third  and 
Fourth  Districts  respectively.  This  choice  was 
obviously  governed  by  a  purpose  to  select  active 
and  energetic  young  men  for  the  rough  explora- 
tory work  the  undertaking  required.  And  so 
better  known  men  like  the  Rogerses,  Dana,  Silli- 
man  and  Eaton,  men  already  attached  to  colleges 
or  otherwise  of  established  position,  were  passed 
over. 

Lieutenant  Mather,  for  the  First  District,  was  a 
retired  army  officer,  who  had  been  a  teacher  of 
geology  and  chemistry  at  the  United  States  Mili- 
tary Academy  at  West  Point,  and,  at  an  earlier 
date  a  teacher  in  Wesleyan  University.  The  year 


54  JAMES  HALL 

before  his  appointment  he  had  accompanied  George 
W.  Featherstonaugh  on  his  exploring  expedition 
from  Green  Bay  to  Coteau  du  Prairie.  He  was 
then  thirty-two  years  of  age. 

Doctor  Emmons,  chosen  for  the  Second  or 
northern  District,  was  thirty-six  years  old.  He 
was  a  trained  chemist  and  mineralogist,  a  doctor  of 
medicine,  and  on  leaving  his  position  as  teacher  of 
chemistry  and  mineralogy  at  the  Rensselaer  School 
had  become  professor  of  chemistry  at  Williams 
College.  Doubtless  the  good  will  of  General  Van 
Rensselaer  helped  in  his  selection  for  this  dis- 
tinctively mineralogical  Adirondack  district  of  the 
State. 

Timothy  Abbott  Conrad,  selected  for  the  Third 
District,  though  of  New  Jersey  birth,  was  a  resi- 
dent of  Philadelphia,  and  closely  associated  with 
the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences.  He  was  a  con- 
chologist  rather  than  a  geologist,  and  had  written 
somewhat  extensively  on  this  theme.  It  was  really 
because  of  this  that  he  was  selected,  for  it  was  evi- 
dent that  some  one  on  the  Board  must  have  a  knowl- 
edge of  fossils,  as  the  rocks  of  New  York  were 
known  to  teem  with  organic  remains  and  not  one 
of  the  other  three  men  knew  anything  about  them. 
Conrad,  then,  was  really  palaeontologist  for  the 
Survey,  and  he  cared  so  little  for  the  work  and  title 
of  Geologist  that  he  forsook  both  after  the  first 
season. 


PERSONNEL  OF  SURVEY  55 

Lardner  Vanuxem,  chosen  for  the  Fourth  Dis- 
trict (of  1836),  was  the  senior  of  the  corps,  having 
been  born  at  Philadelphia  in  1792,  and  he  enjoyed 
the  very  unusual  distinction  of  having  studied  at 
the  Ecole  des  Mines  in  Paris.  Mr.  Vanuxem  had 
published  accounts  of  the  geology  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  it  was  thought  that  his  knowledge  of  this 
neighboring  State  would  throw  needed  light  on  the 
New  York  problem.  Mr.  Vanuxem  was  a  wise  and 
placid  member  of  the  Board,  who  enjoyed  the 
cordial  respect  of  his  colleagues,  while  he  tried  to 
pour  oil  on  their  often  troubled  debates  and  differ- 
ences. He  lived  only  a  comparatively  short  time 
after  the  conclusion  of  his  work  (d.  1848),  not 
long  enough  fully  to  enjoy  the  honorable  credit 
which  his  brief,  concise,  and  accurate  description 
of  the  Third  District  (of  1837)  had  won. 

A  few  words  further  regarding  the  rest  of  the 
personnel  of  the  organization.  Each  chief  geol- 
ogist was  to  have  one  official  assistant.  Most  of 
them  did,  in  fact,  have  different  assistants  in  suc- 
cessive years,  and  often,  as  the  work  progressed, 
additional  local  helpers,  but  of  them  all  only  a  few 
names  have  today  any  significance  to  the  science. 
Reference  has  been  made  to  John  Gebhard,  Jr's., 
work  with  Mather.  Vanuxem's  assistant  for  the 
first  season  was  that  extraordinary  naturalist, 
Dr.  James  Eights  of  Albany,  whom  I  have  heard 
Hall  characterize  as  the  best  informed  man  in 


56  JAMES  HALL 

natural  science  he  ever  knew.  Eights  had,  on  his 
own  account,  studied  the  rocks  of  Central  New 
York,  covered  by  the  Third  and  Fourth  Districts, 
and  had  published  some  description  of  them  in  a 
little  periodical  for  which  he  was  the  editorial 
sponsor,  The  Zodiac,  a  magazine  of  pretensions 
and  excellence  which  had  a  few  years  of  life  in 
Albany  before  the  Survey  was  organized,  and  he 
was  therefore  of  immediate  use  in  this  field  un- 
familiar to  his  chief.  Prior  to  this  time,  Eights 
had  had  a  career  of  exploration  in  the  Antarctic 
and  an  experience  in  many  branches  of  natural 
science  far  more  varied  and  comprehensive  than 
that  of  any  member  of  the  Survey.2 

Ezra  S.  Carr3  and  George  W.  Boyd4  were  also 
Vanuxem's  as  well  as  Hall's  assistants  in  later 

2  I  have  written  a  brief  account  of  the  short  scientific  career  of 
this  unusual  man   (Scientific  Monthly,  p.  189,  Feb.  1916),  particu- 
larly of  his  discoveries  in  the  Antarctic  on  the  expedition  under 
Captain  Fanning,   1828,  in  geology,  zoology,  and  botany.     Only  as 
the  scientific  results  of  recent  Antarctic  expeditions  have  been  made 
known  do  the  real  merits  of  Eights's  discoveries  become  manifest. 
Dr.  Eights  died  at  Ballston,  N.  Y.f  in  1883. 

3  Ezra   S.  Carr  did  not  actively  join  Hall  until   the   season  of 
1838,  after  his  graduation  from  the  Rensselaer  School.     His  sub- 
sequent career  was  distinguished.    As  a  doctor  of  medicine  he  lec- 
tured at  Castleton,  Philadelphia  and  Middlebury,  and  was  one  of 
the  actual  lecturers,  with  Agassiz,  at  the  "  University  of  Albany." 
He  became  Professor  of  Chemistry  at  the  new  University  of  Wiscon- 
sin, and  was  a  Commissioner  of  the  State  Geological  Survey  when 
Hall  was  called  upon  to  undertake  that  service.    For  some  time  he 
was  Professor  in  the  Rush  Medical  College  at  Chicago.     Then  he 
moved   to   California,  became  Professor  of  Medical   Chemistry  in 
the   Toland   Medical   College,   San  Francisco;    afterward,   as   Pro- 


EMMONS'S  ASSISTANT  57 

years,  both  good  geologists ;  and  we  shall  presently 
have  occasion  to  notice  that  later,  Eben  N.  Hors- 
ford,  afterward  to  become  the  eminent  Rumford 
Professor  of  Chemistry  at  Harvard,  was  assistant 
to  Hall  in  the  Fourth  District. 

To  Dr.  Emmons,  of  the  Second  District,  James 
Hall  was  assigned.  It  has  been  understood  and 
stated  that  this  appointment  was  brought  about 
by  the  influence  of  General  Van  Rensselaer,  and 
doubtless  this  is  true,  for  except  under  some  such 
pressure  it  is  hardly  likely  that  Emmons  would 
select  Hall  for  his  companion  in  the  field.  They 
were  two  very  unlike  qualities;  Emmons  nervous 
and  sensitive,  Hall  determined  and  headstrong. 
Affairs  between  them  had  not  gone  well  at  the 
Rensselaer  School  and  Emmons  had  left  for 
Williamstown,  Hall  taking  his  place  as  teacher  of 
mineralogy  at  Troy.  Hall  had  borrowed  money 
from  Emmons  which  he  could  not  or  would  not 
pay  —  that  iniquitous  debt  which  grew  to  be  of 
years  standing  and  worked  its  way  into  the 
"  Taconic  "  controversy. 


fessor  of  Agriculture  in  the  University  of  California,  he  acquired 
wide  influence  throughout  the  State,  filled  other  scientific  func- 
tions, but  doubtless  rendered  his  greatest  service  as  Superintendent 
of  Public  Instruction  in  the  State  of  California,  a  position  he  held 
till  the  end  of  his  life. 

4  Dr.  Boyd  had  been  curator  of  the  New  York  City  Lyceum  of 
Natural  History,  and  when  the  Survey  was  being  planned  his 
friends  urged  him  for  the  chief  position  in  it.  His  service  was 
very  brief  and  he  died  in  1840. 


58  JAMES  HALL 

To  understand  fully  at  the  outset  Hall's  relations 
to  this  Survey  organization,  a  few  words  must 
explain  further  the  constitution  of  the  four  geo- 
logical districts.  They  were  made  up  of  aggrega- 
tions of  counties :  The  First,  of  those  constituting 
the  Hudson  Valley  from  Lake  Champlain  south 
and  the  Catskill  region;  the  Second,  the  distinc- 
tively Adirondack  counties;  the  Third  and  Fourth 
were  very  conventionally  divided  by  an  east  and 
west  line,  following  very  irregular  county  bound- 
aries and  presumably  splitting  the  central-western 
State  in  half,  the  Third  at  the  north  and  along  the 
Mohawk  and  Lake  Ontario  boundary,  and  the 
Fourth  covering  the  highlands  and  the  valleys  of 
the  "Southern  Tier."  This  division  line  was  laid 
to  follow  approximately  the  known  east  and  west 
outcrops  of  the  rock  strata,  and  to  divide  them  so 
that  Conrad  at  the  north  got  all  the  lower  forma- 
tions except  along  the  Niagara  river  where  a  tenon 
was  let  in  from  the  south  to  give  one  unbroken 
meridional  section  across  his  part  of  the  State,  and 
Vanuxem  at  the  south  all  the  higher ;  the  man  of  the 
Third  District  thus  getting  no  share  of  the  other's 
allotment  or  any  acquaintance  with  the  rest  of  the 
geological  succession. 

In  this  organization,  unusual  and  effective  as  it 
was,  there  were  already  three  "  bad  starts,"  points 
of  weakness  that  have  a  decided  effect  on  this  nar- 
rative. The  first  was  Hall's  appointment  as  assist- 


THE  FIRST  SEASON  59 

ant  to  Emmons ;  the  second,  the  delimitation  of  the 
Third  and  Fourth  Districts  of  the  State;  and  the 
third,  the  appointment  of  Conrad.  The  last  two, 
after  one  season  of  disadvantageous  work  were 
profitably  corrected,  but  the  first  was  fruitful  in 
trouble. 

In  1836,  eighty-five  years  ago,  the  active  opera- 
tions of  the  Survey  began,5  and  Mr.  Hall  started 
work  in  the  Adirondack  counties. 

As  his  chief  Dr.  Emmons  had  first  to  recon- 
noiter  the  entire  rugged  district  and  to  traverse 
the  mountain  wilderness  by  trail,  canoe,  and  camp, 
he  detailed  Hall  to  a  special  investigation  of  the 
iron  ores  scattered  broadcast  throughout  the 
region,  the  magnetites  and  hematites,  which  had 
long  been  recognized  as  important  sources  of  nat- 
ural wealth  and  had  been  worked  by  the  pioneers 
when  charcoal  furnaces  were  used  to  smelt  these 
refractory  ores.  Mr.  Hall's  study  of  these  deposits 
was  historical  and  descriptive,  but  not  very  techni- 
cal nor  specially  adapted  to  the  encouragement  of 
development.  He  pointed  out  their  vast  extent  and 

5  The  results  of  the  Survey  were  so  eagerly  awaited  by  the  peo- 
ple that  their  expectations  were  embarrassing.  Henry  D.  Rogers 
writes  to  his  brother  William  B.,  the  Geologist  of  Virginia,  as  early 
even  as  1836 :  "  The  New  York  Survey  is  ruined  by  attending  to 
the  popular  impatience.  General  Dix  who  drafted  their  plan,  con- 
fessed to  me  in  a  letter  how  much  the  good  of  the  measure  has 
been  marred  by  it,  and  this  is  the  secret  of  their  great  appropria- 
tion, $26,000  per  annum."  To  rush  it  through!  (Life  and  Let- 
ters of  William  B.  Rogers.  Vol.  i,  p.  131.) 


60  JAMES  HALL 

their  promise  whenever  their  difficult  technology 
was  compassed.  But  with  all  his  vision  he  could 
not  foresee  the  existence  in  the  ore  bodies  of  the 
eastern  and  northern  Adirondacks,  of  a  billion  tons 
of  magnetite,  much  of  which  is  still  abiding  its 
time  for  the  advantage  of  posterity.  This  report 
of  Hall's  was  a  very  important  part,  nearly  one- 
half,  of  Emmons's  report  on  his  first  year's  work. 
Curiously,  his  early  personal  acquaintance  with 
these  iron  ores  did  not  protect  him  from  disaster 
among  them.  Gravely  consulted  many  years  later 
as  an  authority  by  an  organized  company  of 
sharpers,  who  had  secured  a  cloudy  option  on  a 
well  magnetized  and  alluring  but  thoroughly  buried 
ore  proposition,  he  was  induced  to  invest  his  money 
in  the  project.  At  that  time  he  had  just  sold  his 
great  private  collection  of  fossils  to  the  newly 
organized  American  Museum  of  Natural  History. 
About  one-half  of  the  generous  sum  he  obtained 
for  it,  Mr.  Hall,  with  characteristic  confidence, 
immediately  sunk  in  this  mining  scheme ;  much,  no 
doubt,  to  the  ecstasy  of  its  promoters. 

By  the  close  of  the  first  season  it  had  become 
manifest  to  the  Board  that  the  division  between  the 
Third  and  Fourth  Districts  of  the  State  was  not 
logical,  and  they  recommended  that  the  boundaries 
of  the  two  be  changed  by  dividing  them  along  a 
north  and  south  line,  which  should  be  practically 
the  meridian  of  Cayuga  Lake,  from  Lake  Ontario 


The  Four  Districts:  Divisions  of  1836  above,  of  1837  below. 


62  JAMES  HALL 

to  Pennsylvania.  This  arrangement  was  approved 
by  Governor  Marcy  and  gave  to  each  of  the  two 
districts  a  full  and  equal  series  of  the  rock  forma- 
tions. Meanwhile,  Mr.  Conrad  had  not  made  much 
headway  in  his  field.  The  work  was  not  to  his 
liking;  he  had  from  the  start  wished  to  give  his 
entire  attention  to  the  determination  of  the  fossils 
already  coming  in  with  great  abundance,  and  as 
his  attitude  was  in  exact  accordance  with  the 
wishes  of  the  rest  of  the  Board,  Mr.  Conrad  retired 
as  Geologist  and  was  appointed  Palaeontologist; 
whereupon  Mr.  Hall  was  designated  by  the 
Governor  as  Chief  Geologist  of  the  new  Fourth 
District. 


CHAPTER  IV 
THE  FOURTH  DISTRICT,  1837-1843 

Character  of  the  Region  — Abundance  of  Fossils  —  Early 
records  of  them  —  Phelps  and  Gorham  Purchase  — 
Robert  Morris's  interests  —  Holland  Purchase  —  New 
England  Settlers  —  Lowlands,  uplands,  rivers,  and  lakes 

—  Genesee    river    section  —  Hall    discovers    Eben    N. 
Horsf  ord  —  Sends    him    to    the    Rensselaer     School 

—  Hornby     Lodge     and     the     Hall     Memorial     at 
Genesee  Falls  —  Horsf  ord,  Boyd,  and  Carr,  assistants 
in    the    uplands  —  Hall    at    Gorham    and    Naples  — 
Anxiety   over   Coal  —  Writes   to   H.    D.   Rogers   and 
Rogers's  reply  —  The  Coal  problem  settled  —  Old  Red 
Sandstone — Results  of  Survey  —  Hall's  philosophical 
opinions  —  His  "  Preliminary  Considerations  " —  Agas- 
siz's  comment. 

THUS  the  season  of  1837  brought  Mr.  Hall  to 
the  opening  door  of  his  entire  career.  His 
new  and  great  field  of  labor  covered  ten 
thousand  square  miles,  contained  the  simplest,  most 
lucid  and  most  complete  development  of  one  great 
geological  system,  the  Devonian,  that  the  world  has 
ever  revealed,  and  a  very  important  though  abnor- 
mal presentation  of  what  we  now  include  in  the 
Silurian  system.  The  rocks  of  the  country  over- 
flowed with  fossils,  often  in  beautiful  preservation. 
They  showed  themselves  in  the  stone  fences  and 
farm  foundations ;  they  lay  loose  along  the  streams 

[63] 


64  JAMES  HALL 

and  on  the  shores  of  the  Finger  Lakes;  and  they 
protruded  from  the  rocks  on  the  edges  of  the  cliffs. 
So  ubiquitous  were  they  that  the  Seneca  Indians 
used  the  fossil  cup  corals  for  pipes,  strung  together 
the  joints  of  crinoid  stems  into  necklaces,  and 
buried  brachiopod  shells  along  with  axes  and  spear 
points  in  the  graves  of  their  braves.  They  attracted 
the  attention  of  the  early  explorers,  for  Maude, 
the  English  traveler,  sets  down  in  his  journal 
written  at  Canandaigua  in  1800,  that  "  Mr. 
[Nathaniel]  Gorham1  showed  me  a  petrified  wasp's 
nest  found  in  digging  a  well;  it  was  incorporated 
with  a  piece  of  winstone  "  —  a  coral  in  the  Hamil- 
ton shale ;  and  Alexander  Wilson,  the  ornithologist, 
on  his  pedestrian  bird-hunting  trip  in  1804  from 
Philadelphia  to  Niagara  Falls,  saw  "  marine 
shells  "  in  great  numbers  in  the  rocks  of  Seneca 
Lake.  In  this  region,  where  neither  stratigraphy 
nor  structure  actually  presented  any  obvious  diffi- 
culties of  interpretation,  it  is  little  wonder  that  the 
fossils  excited  Hall's  keenest  enthusiasm.  Looking 
back  now  from  this  rather  remote  present,  it  is 
easy  to  see  that  Hall,  who  had  not  been  inspired  by 
the  rocks  of  Hingham  nor  greatly  impressed  by  the 
iron  mines  of  the  First  District,  was  revivified  by 
coming  into  contact  with  the  relics  of  organic  life 
which  reached  back  from  the  rocks  of  the  Fourth 

1  The  son  of  the  pioneer  referred  to  below  and  stationed  in  this 
frontier  country  to  represent  his  father's  interests.    He  died  in  1826 


PHELPS  AND  GORHAM  PURCHASE  65 

District  to  the  tide  pools  and  inlets  of  Hingham 
Harbor. 

This  district  survey  was  for  another  reason  an 
interesting  adventure.  Its  territory  was  practically 
that  of  the  original  "  Phelps  and  Gorham  Pur- 
chase." It  had  belonged  to  Massachusetts  who 
claimed  fee  under  her  patent  in  all  the  land  west  of 
what  had  become  known  as  the  "  Preemption 
Line,"  a  vagarious  boundary  supposed  to  be  the 
western  limit  of  the  Bounty  lands  given  by  the 
State  of  New  York  to  its  Revolutionary  soldiers. 
This  line  ran  eventually  a  little  east  of  Seneca 
Lake;  that  is,  a  few  miles  within  the  actual  east 
boundary  of  the  Fourth  District.  The  State  of 
Massachusetts  sold  her  right  to  one  million  acres 
of  these  great  lands,  which  was  no  more  than  a 
right  to  amicably  extinguish  the  Indian  title,  to 
Oliver  Phelps  and  Nathaniel  Gorham,  enterprising 
citizens  of  Massachusetts,  who  thus  became  the 
proprietors  of  all  this  western  domain  which  was 
soon  to  become  famously  known  as  the  "  Genesee 
Country."  Phelps  and  Gorham,  having  opened  a 
land  office  in  this  territory  as  early  as  1789,  sold 
off  townships  along  the  northern  plain  and  some- 
what into  the  southern  upland;  but  meeting  the 
fate  of  most  land  speculators  of  the  time,  they 
became  financially  embarrassed  and  disposed  of  the 
balance  of  their  holdings  to  Robert  Morris  of 
Philadelphia.  Thus  Mr.  Morris  became  the  pro- 


66  JAMES  HALL 

prietor  of  a  large  area  of  the  country,  and  his  fam- 
ily name  is  still  preserved  in  the  historic  town  of 
Mount  Morris  on  the  Genesee  river.  Mr.  Morris, 
in  his  turn  financially  involved,  deeded  his  hold- 
ings, after  a  few  individual  sales,  to  a  company  of 
London  Associates;  Sir  William  Pulteney  (whose 
name  and  that  of  his  daughter,  the  Countess  of 
Bath,  are  still  conserved  amongst  the  place  names), 
John  Hornby  and  Patrick  Colquhoun.  The  more 
westerly  part  of  these  lands,  subsequently  acquired 
by  Mr.  Morris,  was  eventually  transferred  to  the 
Holland  Land  Company  and  constituted  the  patent 
known  as  the  "Holland  Purchase."  The  settle- 
ment of  this  country,  however,  was  initiated  by 
Phelps  and  Gorham,  who  sold  townships  to  vet- 
erans of  the  Revolution  and  other  fairly  substantial 
citizens  of  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut.  They 
had  brought  out  among  the  fertile  lands  of  the 
northern  plain  and  its  lower  uplands  a  fine  class 
of  New  England  people  and  nearly  all  the  present 
settlements  of  this  part  of  the  region  had  been 
established  in  stage  days  before  the  mule-power 
canal  and  the  wood-burning  locomotives  had  come 
to  be  active  agents  in  perplexing  the  population. 

These  early  villages  were  bits  taken  out  of  the 
Puritan  atmosphere  and  set  down  in  western  New 
York.  At  the  time  of  Hall's  advent,  the  terraced 
plain  bordering  Lake  Ontario,  along  which  ran 
the  canal  and  the  railroads,  was  already  dotted 


EARLY  SETTLEMENT  67 

with  these  New  England  settlements.  Rochester 
was  a  flouring  center  for  the  great  Genesee  wheat 
fields,  still  resting  its  other  fame  upon  Sam  Patch's 
jump  over  the  Genesee  Falls.  Buffalo  was  a  pros- 
perous commercial  community  commanding  the 
terminal  of  canal  and  railway.  The  villages  about 
were  of  riper  vintage:  Canandaigua  and  Geneva 
dignified  centers  of  education  and  refinement ;  and 
De  Tocqueville  had  characterized  the  former  as  the 
loveliest  in  America.  From  the  Ontario  basin  south, 
the  rock  formations  rose  in  orderly  succession, 
deeply  mantled  with  various  drift  forms  but 
trenched  abundantly  by  the  water  courses.  The 
Genesee  river,  flowing  across  the  entire  State  from 
south  to  north,  through  wonderful  rock  gorges  and 
over  five  impressive  cataracts,  gave  a  section  of 
majestic  completeness.  The  Finger  Lakes,  with 
rock-bound  shores  and  infinite  gullies  entering 
them  almost  at  right  angles,  afforded  a  hatchment 
of  dip  and  strike  sections.  Only  the  broken  plateau 
of  the  Southern  Tier,  then  still  timber-covered  and 
today  resistant  to  transportation,  was  difficult  of 
access  to  the  geologist's  hammer. 

This  field  was  Hall's  "  patent,"  and  it  is  right  to 
say  that  his  five  years  of  work  herein  constituted 
the  dominating  influence  of  his  career  and  gave 
birth  to  the  most  excellent  piece  of  field  work  he 
ever  did.  Out  of  it  beyond  all  question  came  the 


68  JAMES  HALL 

promise  and  the  impulse  of  his  future  extraordin- 
ary labors  in  the  science  of  palaeontology. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  set  down  on  these  pages 
the  results  of  Mr.  Hall's  survey.  They  challenged 
the  admiration  of  his  contemporaries  and  have 
gone  into  the  permanent  records  of  the  science. 
The  great  volume  of  700  pages,  his  final  report  of 
1843,  enshrines  them. 

Quite  naturally  the  first  of  the  young  geologist's 
efforts  were  directed  to  the  extraordinary  traverse 
made  by  the  Genesee  river.  It  was  of  no  small 
significance  to  his  work  and  assistance  to  himself 
that  here  on  the  banks  of  a  confluent  of  the  Gen- 
esee, in  the  spring  of  1837,  he  discovered  a  young 
fellow  who  was  to  become  his  right  hand  in  this 
work,  Eben  N.  Horsford.  Hall  was  twenty-six 
and  Horsford  nineteen  when  the  two  came  together 
in  the  valley.  Mr.  Horsford's  father  had  gone  out 
into  the  Genesee  country  as  a  missionary  to  the 
Seneca  Indians.  There  he  had  made  his  home  at 
Mount  Morris,  but  finally,  abandoning  his  mission- 
ary labors,  had  bought  a  farm  near  the  village  of 
Moscow.  It  was  at  the  father's  home  in  Moscow 
that  the  intimate  relations  between  the  two  were 
established  which  were  to  last  and  grow  closer 
throughout  a  long  life. 

Horsford  had  been  out  the  year  before  surveying 
the  new  railroad  line  from  Auburn  to  Canan- 
daigua,  but  he  had  been  brought  up  on  the  Devon- 


EBEN  N.  HORSFORD  69 

ian  shales  which  shed  their  fossils  at  every  turn  on 
farm  and  creek,  and  now  chance  and  the  new  sur- 
vey had  brought  to  him  a  man  who  could  answer 
all  his  questions  about  them.  Hall  warmed  to  this 
young  man,  but  he  was  quick  to  perceive  that  Hors- 
f ord  did  not  know  enough  to  be  much  help  to  him, 
and  nothing  would  do  but  that  Horsford  should  go 
at  once  to  the  Rensselaer  School  and  get  a  training 
with  Eaton.  That  the  Genesee  wheat  crop  was  a 
failure  that  year  and  that  Horsford  had  no  money, 
should  not  be  an  obstacle;  poverty  had  been  none 
to  Hall,  and  he  happened  to  know  that  Professor 
Eaton  was  again  planning  a  civil  engineering 
course  for  the  school  ;2  so  he  writes  a  glowing  letter 
to  Eaton  about  the  young  but  impecunious  engineer 
which  has  an  extraordinary  effect.  Eaton 
addresses  Horsford  at  once,  July  10,  1837:  "  My 
amiable  and  judicious  friend  Prof.  Hall  has  given 
me  an  account  of  your  qualifications  and  views 
which  induce  me  to  make  this  proposal  as  agent  of 
the  Institute.  I  will  cause  you  to  be  furnished  with 
a  room,  board  and  our  best  facilities  for  study  and 
improvement  as  an  equivalent  as  Assistant  Pro- 
fessor in  Civil  Engineering,  your  department  to 
be  linear  and  perspective  drawing.  Please  ponder 
this  and  the  basis  of  our  agreement ;  as  agent  I  have 

2  In  a  letter  of  1834,  John  Wright  says  that  Prof.  Eaton  will  at 
once  make  application  to  the  legislature  "  for  to  create  a  branch  of 
engineering  and  technology." 


70  JAMES  HALL 

the  right  of  nomination.  On  the  receipt  of  your 
answer  I  shall  nominate  you  as  Assistant  Professor 
of  Engineering."  So,  within  a  few  weeks  after  the 
two  had  met,  Hall  had  whisked  Horsford  off  to 
Troy.  The  young  professor  did  not  get  quite  all 
that  Eaton  promised  him,  and  he  complains  to  Hall 
in  the  early  winter  that  "  Prof."  would  not  give 
him  any  firewood  and  he  could  not  afford  to  buy 
any.  But  the  year  passed,  and  at  its  close  Hors- 
ford, the  professor,  graduated  as  Horsford,  the 
student.  Meanwhile,  Hall  had  spent  his  time  in  the 
district  in  traverses  and  reconnaissance  so  that 
with  the  opening  of  1838  he  was  ready  for  real 
detailed  work. 

We  have  intimated  that  this  Genesee  valley  was 
the  open  door  to  Hall's  problems.  The  rich  rock 
sections  of  the  Erie  Canal  and  its  locks,  and  the 
already  well  studied  problems  of  Niagara  Falls, 
attracted  him;  but  it  was  the  Genesee  valley,  with 
its  great  falls  at  Rochester,  at  Portage,  its 
impressive  gorge  between  the  "  High  Banks,"  and 
its  complete  trans-section  of  the  State  from  Penn- 
sylvania to  Lake  Ontario,  that  unlocked  the  geolog- 
ical history  of  western  New  York,  and  remains 
today  and  must  ever  remain  not  only  a  monument 
to  Hall's  transcription  of  the  record  but  the  wide- 
open  leaves  of  the  great  Devonian  book.  Amid  the 
forest  trees  on  the  west  brink  of  the  great  gorge  of 
the  river  at  Portage  there  stood,  in  Hall's  day,  an 


THE  GENESEE  TABLET  71 

eight-sided  rustic  chateau  built  after  the  style  of 
"John  O'Groat's  House"  on  the  cliff  at  Dun- 
cansby  Head,  in  Scotland,  and  known  as  "  Hornby 
Lodge,"  bearing  its  Scotch  proprietor's  name. 
Just  across  the  river,  on  a  natural  rock  face,  now 
within  the  limits  of  the  State  Reserve  known  as 
Letchworth  Park,  which  embraces  all  the  Portage 
cataracts,  a  tablet  has  been  set  in  the  wall  to  mark 
the  geological  service  and  the  record  here 
embodied. 

JAMES    HALL 
State  Geologist  of   New   York 

1836—1898 

Established  in  This 

Fourth  Geological  District 

The  Classification  of  a  Large  Part  of  The 

New  York  System  of  Geological  Formations 

Which  Gave  Enduring  Repute  to  the  Geology  of  New  York 

This    Gorge   Exhibits   the  Typical   Expression   of    Hall's 

Portage    Group 

Whose  Rocks  Carry  an  Assemblage  of  Organic 
Remains  Most  Widely  Diffused  Throughout  the  World 

This  Tablet  Has  Been  Erected  By 

Charles  D.  Walcott,  Secty.,  Smithsonian  Institution 

John  J.  Stevenson,  Prof.  Geology,  N.  Y.  University 

John  C.  Smock,  Commissioner,  Geological  Survey  of 

New  Jersey 

Charles  Schuchert,  Prof.  Geology,  Yale  University 

John  M.  Clarke,  N.  Y.  State  Geologist 

1908 


72  JAMES  HALL 

Having  found  his  efficient  lieutenants,  Horsford, 
Boyd  and  Carr,  Hall  started  them  off  with  canoes 
and  tents  through  the  Finger  Lakes,  Horsford 
reporting  often  and  with  infinite  detail  every  move- 
ment, every  exhilarating  experience,  of  which  there 
seems  to  have  been  no  end.  There  were  stories  of 
the  wonderment  of  the  villagers  and  rustics  over 
their  mysterious  business,  and  of  great  boxes  of 
specimens  that  were  being  packed  up  in  barns  and 
village  stores;  mishaps  to  their  gear;  hilarious 
accounts  of  country  shows;  very  serious  affairs 
over  red-cheeked  girls ;  all  interspersed  among  lists 
of  names  of  fossils  and  all  the  minute  observations 
necessary  to  accurate  record.  "  You  will  find  the 
trilobites,"  Horsford  writes  to  Hall  at  Moscow, 
"  on  the  bureau.  Those  on  the  mantel  are  from  a 
locality  near  Patterson's.  I  beg  you  will  look  at 
the  Orthis  circularis  on  the  bed.  Affectionately, 
Your  Pupil."  Indeed  they  were  all  boys  together, 
sharing  their  confidences  as  well  as  their  high  pur- 
poses. 

It  is  fair  to  the  memory  of  these  assistants  and 
not  unjust  to  Hall  to  say  that  the  large  part  of  the 
field  work  through  all  the  southern  counties  and  in 
the  lakes  region  was  carried  on  by  the  lieutenants, 
and  when  the  survey  was  over  they  had  visited 
localities  in  the  district  which  Hall  had  never  seen. 
But  Hall  was  the  general,  tieing  all  their  observa- 
tions together  into  their  broad  co-ordinations, 


CANANDAIGUA  LAKE  73 

wisely  spending  his  time  on  the  northern  part  of 
the  field  which  was  in  much  more  direct  touch  with 
the  concourse  of  commerce;  the  region  of  the 
Niagara  plateau  from  the  Falls  to  Rochester;  the 
plateau  over  which  ran  the  living  thoroughfares  of 
the  community:  highways,  railroad,  and  canal. 
When  he  wished  to  get  away  from  the  field  for 
uninterrupted  thought  and  match  together  the 
accumulating  notes,  he  was  wont  to  find  his  refuge 
in  a  farm  home  at  a  village  appropriately  named 
Bethel,3  a  restful  spot  not  far  back  from  the  east 
shore  of  Canandaigua  Lake.  From  there  he  makes 
an  occasional  detour  about  or  across  the  lake  to 
the  dignified  home  of  Captain  Monteith,  where  he 
had  found  not  merely  a  cordial  Scotch  hospitality, 
but  in  ravine  and  cliffs  a  paradise  of  fossils.  The 
Monteith  home  still  stands  in  the  shadow  of  the 
shale  cliffs  and  raised  beaches,  carpeted  with  its 
vineyards,  and  the  names  of  its  ravine  and  "  point  " 
are  now  imbedded  in  the  geological  nomenclature 
of  the  State.4 

On  one  occasion  the  writer  took  Professor  Hall  for  his 
first  visit  into  the  Naples  valley  at  the  south  end  of  Canan- 

3  Bethel  was  then  the  name  of  the  present  village  of  Gorham. 
Soon  after  he  is  striving  to  secure  a  pension  for  the  services  of 
his  Bethel  host  in  the  Mexican  War,  and  it  was  from  him  that  he 
first  hears  of  Col.  Ezekiel  Jewett,  one  of  Scott's  veterans  in 
Mexico,  and  to  whom  we  shall  have  abundant  occasion  to  refer. 

*"Menteth  limestone."  The  spelling  of  the  name  has  changed 
with  the  passing  of  the  generations. 


74  JAMES  HALL 

daigua  Lake.  He  was  then  seventy-six  years  of  age,  and  the 
purpose  of  the  visit,  in  company  with  D.  Dana  Luther,  was 
to  show  him  the  development  of  what  has  now  been  recog- 
nized as  a  very  extraordinary  display  of  life  in  the  rocks 
of  that  region  which  had,  in  large  measure,  escaped  observa- 
tion. When  Mr.  Horsford  entered  this  valley  in  1838,  he 
found  a  young  schoolteacher  of  just  his  own  age,  a  native 
of  the  place,  interested  in  everything  out  of  doors,  and  to 
him  he  appealed  for  guidance  through  the  gullies  and  over 
the  hills  of  the  region.  From  the  trips  afoot  through  the 
rocks  of  Naples  germinated  still  another  friendship  which 
lasted  as  long  as  life.  The  young  schoolmaster  afterward 
became  a  student  in  chemistry  under  Horsford  at  Cambridge, 
and  in  the  years  of  old  age  these  men  were  wont  to  fore- 
gather either  in  Canandaigua,  or  at  the  old  Temple  Hill 
School  at  Geneseo,  where  Horsford  got  his  early  education. 
Of  the  three  men,  Horsford  was  the  first  to  depart  this 
life;  Hall  and  the  schoolmaster  a  few  weeks  apart.  The 
schoolmaster  was  the  writer's  father. 

After  Horsford  left  the  survey  he  became  teacher  of 
mathematics  in  the  Albany  "  Female  "  Academy  and  there 
he  remained  a  number  of  years,  carrying  on  experimental 
work  in  chemistry  which  was  the  line  of  his  closest  inter- 
est. Some  years  were  spent  with  Liebig  in  Giessen,  and 
while  he  was  away  Hall  instituted  the  effort  which  was  to 
place  him  in  the  Rumford  professorship  at  Cambridge.  The 
writer  has  in  his  possession  the  correspondence  carried  on 
between  Professor  Hall  and  others,  with  reference  to  Hors- 
f  ord's  promotion  to  this  position.  The  effort  was  a  tempestu- 
ous little  affair  in  its  day,  in  which  Hall  had  secured  the 
co-operation  of  Professor  John  W.  Webster  (an  excellent 
but  underpaid  Harvard  chemist,  who,  overmuch  annoyed  by 
an  offensive  note-shaver,  cracked  an  unsympathetic  skull 
with  a  geological  hammer),  and  wherein  Henry  D.  Rogers 


COAL  75 

was  a  zealous  competitor.  Horsford  went  to  Cambridge  in 
1845,  and  his  distinguished  career  is  one  of  the  assets  of 
American  science.  It  may  be  that  in  his  later  years,  as  he 
turned  his  interest  to  publications  on  early  historical  dis- 
coveries and  gave  to  the  philological  world  the  first  printed 
copy  of  Zeisberger's  Dictionary  of  the  Iroquois  Dialect,  his 
childhood  interests  and  influences  made  themselves  once 
more  evident.  In  speaking  thus  of  Professor  Horsford  in 
association  with  the  Genesee  valley  and  the  Geological  Sur- 
vey, one  can  not  help  recalling  the  fact  that  another  geo- 
logist of  greater  distinction  in  this  science  than  Horsford, 
made  his  debut  on  earth  at  Mount  Morris ;  Major  John  W. 
Powell,  Director  of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey; 
and  he,  too,  in  later  years,  turned  his  attention  to  problems 
of  aboriginal  ethnology. 

In  the  counties  along  the  Pennsylvania  border 
the  quest  for  Coal  was  keen;  organized  companies 
were  spending  money  freely  on  it,  and  like  all 
adventurers  in  mining,  wanted  the  assurance  of 
success,  with  or  without  reason.  The  geologists 
were  fairly  embarrassed  by  the  situation.  Doctor 
Carr  had  been  assigned  to  these  sections,  and  his 
letters  are  filled  not  only  with  his  observations  but 
with  anxious  relations  of  the  coal  promoters  and 
the  appeal  they  were  threatening  to  make  to 
Governor  Marcy  for  special  aid  to  their  projects. 
Following  Carr,  Hall  traced  the  strata  south  from 
Allegany  and  Cattaraugus  counties  into  Pennsyl- 
vania, had  connected  them  up,  he  thought,  with 
the  coals  of  Blossburg,  Penna.,  and  he  was  quite 


76  JAMES  HALL 

disposed  to  believe  that  coal  might  be  found  in  these 
New  York  counties  by  penetrating  the  high  con- 
glomerates. In  his  anxious  doubt  he  writes  his 
first  letter  to  Henry  D.  Rogers,  who  was  then 
actively  prosecuting  the  survey  of  Pennsylvania. 
This  exchange  over  a  subject  of  great  moment 
constituted  the  introduction  of  the  State  Geologist 
of  New  York  to  the  State  Geologist  of  Pennsyl- 
vania —  it  broke  the  ice,  but  the  placid  water  soon 
froze  over.  The  letters  are  of  sufficient  importance 
to  introduce  here. 

GORHAM,  October  22,  1819. 
DEAR  SIR: 

I  hope  the  subject  on  which  I  write  will  be  a  sufficient 
apology  for  introducing  myself  to  you  in  this  manner.  I 
have  much  desired  a  conference  with  you  on  the  subject 
of  the  geology  of  the  country  bordering  the  line  of  Penn- 
sylvania and  New  York.  I  have  found  it  necessary  to  ex- 
tend my  examinations  within  your  State  before  I  could 
find  a  terminating  point  upwards  to  my  groups. 

I  have  heretofore  considered  our  rocks  all  below  the  rocks 
of  the  Coal  series,  but  from  late  examinations  I  am  con- 
vinced that  one  of  the  members  of  that  series  extends  into 
this  State  and  I  mean  the  conglomerate.  In  the  eastern 
part  of  my  district,  Chemung  and  Steuben  counties,  I  find 
none  of  this  rock,  but  in  following  up  the  Tioga  River  I 
find  it  overlying  the  Coal  at  Blossburg.  In  Allegany  Co., 
at  two  points  which  are  at  least  1000  feet  higher  than  the 
Tioga  at  the  state  line  I  find  the  conglomerate.  Also  in 
Cattaraugus  co.,  at  about  the  same  elevation.  I  find  at 
some  depth  below  this  conglomerate  a  thin  stratum  of 
red  sandstone  containing  some  of  the  fossils  of  the  red 


ROGERS  ON  COAL  77 

sandstone  farther  east.  Immediately  below  the  conglomerate 
there  is  a  considerable  thickness  of  rock  which  thus  far  I 
have  found  no  opportunity  of  seeing,  as  the  area  covered  by 
the  conglomerate  in  New  York  is  small  and  in  elevated  and 
uncultivated  districts.  There  are  some  gentlemen  in  Cat- 
taraugus  co.  who  are  anxious  that  borings  be  made  from 
the  conglomerate  downwards.  I  shall  present  this  subject 
to  the  other  gentlemen  engaged  in  the  survey  at  our  meeting 
on  the  1 5th  of  November.  In  the  meantime,  if  you  will 
have  the  goodness  to  give  me  your  opinion  on  the  subject 
or  upon  the  work  in  question,  I  shall  feel  highly  gratified. 
I  might  state  that  the  situations  where  the  conglomerate  is 
seen  are  bordering  on  the  Pennsylvania  line  and  south  of 
Olean,  extending  beyond  it. 
Please  address  me  at  Albany. 

Very  truly 

Your  obedient  servant, 

JAMES  HALL. 

PHILADELPHIA,  November  6,  iSm 
DEAR  SIR: 

Your  favor  of  the  23rd  October  arriving  during  my 
absence  from  the  city,  I  have  been  prevented  until  now 
acknowledging  the  pleasure  I  have  received  from  your  com- 
munication and  from  submitting  my  opinion  upon  the  sub- 
ject mentioned  by  you. 

I  am  aware  that  in  certain  portions  of  our  bituminous 
Coal  region,  for  example  in  Lycoming  co.,  a  stratum  of 
conglomerate  overlies  the  lowermost  coal  seam  or  seams  of 
the  country.  There  is  also  a  coarse  sandstone  occasionally 
acquiring  the  character  of  a  conglomerate  which  holds  a 
corresponding  place  in  the  Coal  series  of  Blossburg.  Never- 
theless I  am  far  from  supposing  that  generally  along  the 
northern  margin  of  the  coal  region  the  rock,  so  decidedly  a 


78  JAMES  HALL 

conglomerate  in  its  composition,  is  to  be  found  overlying 
any  beds  of  workable  coal.  It  is  proper  for  me  to  observe, 
however,  that  I  have  not  yet  had  an  opportunity  of  visit- 
ing the  northern  portions  of  Potter  and  McKean  Counties, 
nor  have  we  yet  succeeded  in  removing  all  ambiguity  respect- 
ing the  true  relations  of  the  lower  coal  seams  to  the  con- 
glomerates bordering  the  coal  field.  *  *  *  If  the  con- 
glomerates to  which  you  refer  as  existing  in  Cattaraugus  co. 
is,  as  I  believe  it  to  be  from  boulders  which  I  have  there 
seen,  the  rock  with  large  and  closely  set  quartz  pebbles,  then 
I  am  pretty  sure  that  it  will  be  in  vain  to  look  for  coal  be- 
neath, or  indeed,  for  good  coal  immediately  upon  it. 

If  the  conglomerate,  moreover,  is  in  the  lowest,  pebbly 
rock  of  the  series,  then  I  deem  it  quite  unlikely  that  boring 
will  develop  anything  of  interest  as  regards  coal. 

By  this  time  next  year  I  hope  to  be  in  possession  of 
ample  information  respecting  the  geology  of  our  northern 
frontier.  In  the  mean  while  I  shall  be  most  happy  to  impart 
my  views  in  reply  to  any  queries  you  or  your  colleagues  may 
favor  me  with,  though  I  fear  me  from  the  very  unsatis- 
factory tone  of  this  letter,  you  may  think  it,  at  least  in  re- 
lation to  the  northern  line,  not  very  well  worthy  trouble. 
With  sentiments  of  much  respect, 

Yours  truly, 

HENRY  D.  ROGERS. 
JAMES  HALL,  ESQ. 

Thus  was  settled  for  all  time  the  question  of  the 
occurrence  of  coal  in  New  York ;  that  is,  settled  so 
far  as  geology  and  the  geologists  were  concerned, 
but  the  people  were  incredulous.  Sir  Charles  Lyell 
in  1841  says  he  heard  complaints  on  all  sides  to  the 
effect  that  the  geologists  having  been  unable  to  find 


OLD  RED  SANDSTONE  79 

coal,  decided  no  one  else  would  ever  be  able  to  find 
any;  and  Lyell  himself,  after  a  visit  to  the  black 
"  Silurian "  shales  on  the  Normanskill  below 
Albany,  admits  they  might  easily  be  mistaken  for 
coal  measures.  Seventy-five  years  have  passed, 
and  I  suppose  coal  is  more  often  "  discovered  "  in 
New  York  today  than  ever  before. 

The  trips  to  Blossburg  settled  another  question 
of  importance.  There  in  the  red  rocks  below  the 
coal  were  found  the  remains  of  the  Old  Red  Sand- 
stone fish  Holoptychius,  and  another,  which  a 
memorandum  of  1839,  in  his  own  handwriting, 
says  "  Mr.  Hall  proposed  to  name  Heterolepis 
(Sauritolepis)  Taylori,  in  honor  of  Mr.  R.  C.  Tay- 
lor5 of  Philadelphia,  who  was  the  first  person  to 
suggest  that  the  sandstone  of  Blossburg  was  iden- 
tical in  age  and  place  with  the  Old  Red  Sandstone 
of  Europe ;"  though  Hall  himself  afterward  loyally 
declared  that  Eaton  deserved  prior  credit  for  the 
determination.  "This  [rock]/'  he  continues, 

5  Richard  C  Taylor,  an  eminent  English  mining  engineer,  who 
passed  much  of  his  active  life  in  America  and  was  the  writer  of  a 
well  known  book,  "  Statistics  of  Coal,"  became  in  1841  a  sort  of 
unofficial  free-lance  assistant  on  the  New  York  Survey.  Before  me 
lies  his  field  notebook  stamped  "New  York  Geological  Survey, 
1841,"  the  standard  form  of  book  used  by  the  Survey,  but  the  only 
copy  I  have  ever  seen,  which  by  singular  chance  came  to  me  from 
the  wreckage  of  the  Johnstown,  Penna.,  flood  of  1889.  It  is  filled 
with  beautifully  executed  sketches  in  water  colors,  some  of  rock 
sections  long  since  lost  to  observation,  and  several  of  these  were 
published  in  the  reports  of  Vanuxem  and  Hall. 


80  JAMES  HALL 

"  should  be  considered  a  very  important  one  as 
being  the  mass  which  separates  the  Silurian  rocks 
from  the  Carboniferous  formation  which  has  not 
heretofore  been  recognized  with  sufficient  accuracy 
in  the  country." 

Assuredly  these  were  momentous  demonstra- 
tions to  establish  in  a  few  months  of  work :  the  cer- 
tain absence  of  coal  in  New  York ;  the  presence  and 
base  of  the  Carboniferous  System  in  America ;  the 
existence  here  of  the  Old  Red  Sandstone  of  Great 
Britain;  over  against  which  the  inclusion  of  the 
entire  Devonian  System  in  the  "  Silurian  "  stands 
in  a  startling  contrast,  indicating  what  a  struggle 
Hall  was  having  with  Sir  Roderick  Murchison's 
early  ideas  of  his  "  Silurian  System ;"  a  grip  which 
manifested  itself  throughout  his  writings  for  years 
after  and  from  which  he  loosed  himself  with  obvi- 
ous reluctance. 

Different  categories  of  geological  results  flowed 
from  the  work  on  the  Fourth  District.  The  strati- 
graphic  determination  of  the  New  York  Series  of 
Geological  Formations  may  stand  perhaps  as  the 
most  enduring  pedestal  of  this  monument  which 
Hall  helped  to  rear,  for  in  spite  of  all  the  changes 
of  the  years  and  in  the  face  of  all  the  progress  of 
the  science,  nothing  has  disturbed  its  solidarity, 
and  the  occasional  younger  ambitious  geologist,  out 
for  a  tilt  against  this  obelisk,  has  too  often  turned 
back  with  a  broken  spear.  Without  minimizing 


"PRELIMINARY  CONSIDERATIONS"  81 

the  great  work  of  Hall's  colleagues  on  the  Survey 
in  proving  the  integrity  of  the  classification  of  the 
formations,  he  must  be  credited  with  its  lucid 
demonstration  from  the  rocks  of  this  District. 
Others  have  builded,  but  the  foundations  are  not 
to  be  altered.  It  is  interesting,  however,  to  note 
here  in  passing  that  Hall,  in  his  general  canvass 
of  this  classification,  says  specifically  that  he  is 
making  no  reference  to  rocks  there  which  "  lie 
below  the  Taconic  system,"  thus  tacitly  or  tempor- 
arily assenting  to  the  claims  which  Doctor  Emmons 
in  the  Northern  District  was  setting  forth  for  the 
existence  of  a  system  more  ancient  than  any  recog- 
nized by  his  colleagues. 

The  study  of  these  fossiliferous  strata  aroused 
in  a  singularly  interesting  way  the  philosophical 
side  of  Professor  Hall's  mind.  Louis  Agassiz, 
writing  after  he  had  arrived  in  this  country  and 
had  received  a  copy  of  the  Fourth  District  Report, 
tells  Hall  that  he  is  "  a  visionary  and  an  enthu- 
siast;" and  it  seems  quite  likely  that  Professor 
Agassiz's  opinion  may  have  been  based  on  some 
of  Hall's  reflections  in  which  occur  passages, 
set  forth  in  his  "  Preliminary  Considerations  "  to 
this  volume,  such  as  the  following:  "  At  the  time 
our  strata  began  to  be  studied,  the  doctrine  of  total 
destructions  and  renovations  [of  life]  was  gener- 
ally admitted;  the  termination  of  every  geological 
period  was  supposed  to  be  marked  by  the  annihila- 


82  JAMES  HALL 

tion  of  every  living  thing  and  the  commencement 
of  the  next  one  as  distinctly  by  a  new  and  entirely 
different  creation.  Further  observation  has  tended 
to  the  abandonment  of  this  doctrine;  and  so  far 
as  our  knowledge  now  goes,  there  seems  to  have 
been  a  gradual  change  from  the  first  period  of  liv- 
ing things  to  the  present  time."  This  very  extraor- 
dinary expression,  not  only  precocious  but  ven- 
turesome, may  well  have  called  forth  Professor 
Agassiz's  exclamation,  for  it  was  very  much  in 
advance  of  the  position  then  taken  by  the  confessed 
leaders  in  science,  and  as  is  well  known,  Agassiz 
himself  never  accepted  any  views  which  implied 
continuity  in  such  changes.6 

There  are  other  paragraphs  in  these  "  Prelimi- 
nary Considerations  "  which  are  not  only  dignified 
in  measure  but  in  their  philosophy;  and  of  them 
Augustus  A.  Gould,  the  scholarly  and  critical  nat- 
uralist, writes :  "  I  have  read  them  with  great 
delight.  I  thought  I  would  read  a  page  or  so  before 
going  to  bed,  when  it  was  very  late  and  I  very 
tired,  but  I  became  so  drawn  in  by  the  grandeur 
of  the  subject  and  the  fascination  of  the  style  that 

6  This  frank  avowal  of  organic  continuity  and  derivation  might 
be  construed  as  a  happy  picture  of  future  philosophical  labors  in 
his  chosen  field,  and  the  challenge  was,  in  1843,  all  the  more  daring 
because  Hall  in  1838,  directly  upon  his  marriage,  had  joined  the 
Catholic  church.  The  fact  is  that  he  did  not  in  after  life  follow  the 
promise  of  this  early  thesis  or  ever  permit  himself  to  revel  in  the 
evidences  of  life-lines  which  swarmed  about  him. 


THE  "CONSIDERATIONS"  83 

I  could  find  no  stopping  place."  And  Count  De 
Verneuil,  the  admirable  French  geologist,  already 
feeling  a  constraint  toward  America,  writes  from 
Paris :  "  I  see  by  your  *  Conclusions  '  that  you 
admit  the  idea  of  a  succession  of  beings  upon  the 
surface  of  the  globe  by  way  of  new  developments. 
This  is  after  all  most  conformable  to  observed 
facts.  Monsieur  de  Blainville,  who  is  now  giving 
lectures  on  Palaeontology  in  Paris,  supports  a  very 
different  theory.  According  to  him,  the  fossil 
species  only  fill  the  chasms  between  living  species. 
In  the  beginning  of  things  all  species  were  created 
complete,  both  the  actually  living  and  the  now  fossil 
species.  He  compares  the  scheme  to  a  tree  which 
has  lost  some  of  its  leaves.  M.  de  Blainville,  with 
all  his  immense  knowledge,  has  never  made  practi- 
cal geology  or  palaeontology  a  study  in  the  field." 
The  mere  comparison  suggested  brings  out  the 
vitality  and  force  of  these  "  Considerations  " : 

The  doctrine  of  violent  catastrophes  and  of  sudden  changes 
in  the  inhabitants  of  the  ocean,  was  based  upon  the  examina- 
tion of  limited  districts,  where  the  entire  series  of  deposits 
had  never,  existed,  or  had  been  subsequently  obliterated. 
And  gradual  and  tranquil  as  the  changes  now  seem  to 
us,  they  may  appear  infinitely  more  so  when  a  perfect 
sequence  among  the  strata  of  the  whole  globe  shall  become 
known ;  when  a  complete  succession  shall  be  established  from 
the  oldest  to  the  newest  rock.  From  what  we  now  know, 
compared  with  the  knowledge  existing  a  few  years  since, 


84  JAMES  HALL 

we  can  readily  infer  that  some  distant  places,  or  even  nearer 
localities,  may  furnish  links  now  wanting  in  the  chain. 

In  learning  to  regard  nature  as  always  the  same,  and  her 
laws  unchanging,  we  have  made  a  grand  step  towards  the 
explication  of  phenomena  before  unexplained  except  through 
a  suspension  of  the  natural  laws  or  a  miraculous  interposi- 
tion of  creative  power.  Nature  is  always  perfect  and  un- 
varying, but  man's  knowledge  is  progressive;  consequently 
in  every  advance  he  arrives  nearer  to  the  truth,  and  yet  as 
far  from  knowing  all  nature  and  her  laws  as  he  is  from 
Infinity. 

The  knowledge  of  mankind,  therefore,  at  one  age  seems 
but  as  folly  or  ignorance  in  a  succeeding  one;  and  it  is  the 
same  regarding  our  own  knowledge  at  different  periods. 
Still  there  are  certain  principles  which  never  fail,  and  which 
man  through  his  whole  life  and  mankind  throughout  all  ages 
have  acknowledged  as  fixed  and  unalterable.  It  is  not  the 
'facts  of  observation  that  change,  but  the  inferences  which 
we  draw  from  them  as  our  knowledge  becomes  more  ex- 
tended and  facts  before  unknown  are  added  to  the  stock. 

Viewing  nature  and  the  mind  of  man  in  this  light,  we  are 
not  to  look  at  the  imperfections  in  the  works  of  those  who 
preceded  us  but  to  be  satisfied  to  add  a  few  more  facts  to 
the  great  store  of  exact  knowledge.  We  are  to  consider 
always  that  theories  and  systems  are  merely  an  exposi- 
tion of  the  present  amount  of  knowledge  on  the  subject ; 
and  that  science  is  the  term  used  by  philosophers  to  desig- 
nate the  conclusions  drawn  from  a  systematic  arrangement 
of  facts,  verified,  by  other  facts,  relating  to  any  portion  of 
nature's  works ;  not  in  the  least  signifying  that  man's  knowl- 
edge is  perfect  in  any  department  of  nature,  or  that  science 
is  less  susceptible  of  improvement  by  the  addition  of  new 
discoveries. 


CHAPTER  V 
1 

OTHER  ACTIVITIES  OF  THE  SURVEY  PERIOD 
Collections  and  collectors  —  The  "  Lockport  Company  " — 
"  Hall  and  Slade  "  —  Koch's  "  Missourium  "  —  Caleb 
Briggs  —  Investments  in  Ohio  lands  —  First  foreign 
recognition  —  Trip  through  the  Central  States  —  Dis- 
covery of  John  Newberry. 

THUS  we  have  given  many  pages  and  might 
well  give  more,  to  the  consideration  of  this 
pioneer  scientific  survey  of  western  New 
York.  It  has  justified  them ;  to  enter  on  an  analysis 
"of  its  results,  however,  would  lead  too  far  away 
from  the  purposes  of  this  book.  It  was  of  course 
the  principal  business  of  the  years  from  1836  to 
1843,  but  its  activities  could  not  exclude  other  con- 
cerns. The  geologists  were  not  earning  enough  to 
make  them  independent ;  $1,500  a  year  was  no  great 
sum  for  a  young  man  already  well  in  debt,  and  as 
Hall  scanned  the  horizon  for  some  favorable  sign 
of  other  income  there  was  nothing  in  sight.  So  he 
turned  with  unremitting  diligence  to  the  building 
up  of  his  scientific  collections,  and  in  these  activ- 
ities he  required  no  other  suggestions  than  the 
impulses  of  a  man  now  consecrated  to  science  and 
who  must  have  the  means  of  carrying  on  his  work. 
The  letters  of  ten  years  are  evidences  of  incessant 
operations  in  collection  building;  buying,  selling, 
[85] 


86  JAMES  HALL 

dickering,  haggling  over  prices  and  debating  of 
results.  In  those  days  the  whole  squad  of  natural 
history  students  were  collectors;  and  though  but 
a  squad,  its  members  made  up  in  enthusiasm  and 
diligence  what  they  lacked  in  numbers.  It  was  the 
day  of  the  building  of  great  private  collections,  and 
a  student  of  natural  science  not  fortified  by  a  col- 
lection of  his  own  making  was  a  sort  of  foot-loose 
socialist  with  little  to  tie  to.  Silliman  and  Gibbs 
and  Shepard  were  setting  the  example;  Agassiz 
was  soon  to  come,  and  no  one  of  those  days  was  his 
equal  in  scientific  acquisitiveness.  While  at  home 
in  Hingham,  in  1835,  Hall  had  to  walk  to  Boston 
to  hear  the  greater  Silliman  give  the  Lowell  Insti- 
tute lectures,  but  his  first  personal  contact  with  this 
man  who  was  to  befriend  and  encourage  him,  came 
about  through  answering  an  advertisement  for 
minerals  for  Yale  College  printed  in  "  Silliman's 
Journal/'  And  these  two  hack  and  whittle  over 
values  like  gentlemen  and  part  friends.  Hall  set 
his  lines  in  every  direction.  We  find  Sager  sending 
on  collections  from  Michigan  by  Bela  Hubbard;1 

1  Bela  Hubbard  was  Houghton's  assistant  on  the  Geological  Sur- 
vey of  Michigan.  He  "  came  to  Michigan  a  youth,  in  the  spring 
of  1835,  and  settled  in  the  town  of  Springwells,  two  miles  from  the 
western  limits  of  Detroit,  then  a  city  of  less  than  5,000  inhabitants. 
On  or  near  the  spot  of  his  first  abode  upon  the  banks  of  our  noble 
river,  he  has  dwelt  for  half  a  century,  until  the  spreading  city  -has 
absorbed  the  intervening  farms."  (Hubbard's  "  Memorials  of  a 
Half-Century,"  1884).  Mr.  Hubbard  was  extraordinarily  versatile  in 
his  scientific  interests  and  an  honored  citizen  of  his  commonwealth. 


COLLECTION  BUILDING  87 

Silurian  fossils  coming  in  from  the  early  collectors 
in  and  about  Cincinnati,  Dr.  John  Locke,  Dr. 
Clapp,  Carley,  David  Christy,  Joseph  Clark;  min- 
erals and  fossils  from  C.  M.  Wheatley  of  Phoenix- 
ville,  and  Dexter  Marsh  the  "  father  "  of  the  Con- 
necticut Valley  fossil  "  bird  tracks,"  and  from  a 
dozen  enthusiasts  in  New  York,  mostly  of  his  own 
making.2  Indeed,  so  far  did  Hall's  zest  lead  him, 
that  he  organized  a  little  joint  stock  company  to 
mine  the  canal  banks  at  Lockport  for  trilobites  and 
other  things,  with  Carr  and  John  Newberry  as 
shareholders.  A  part  of  the  procedure  of  this  com- 
pany seems  to  have  been  to  extend  its  sphere  of 
control  over  certain  splendid  specimens  of  trilobites 
which  were  in  the  possession  of  local  collectors, 
among  whom  was  a  Mr.  Marsh,  father  of  the  dis- 
tinguished palaeontologist,  Professor  Othniel  C. 
Marsh  of  Yale  University.  It  is  recorded  that 
Marsh  would  not  part  with  his  fossils.  John  New- 
berry,  alive  with  zeal  but  short  of  money,  was  never 
able  to  turn  in  his  share  of  the  capital  stock,  and 
laments  to  Hall  in  sackcloth  and  ashes,  hoping  for- 
giveness for  his  dereliction ;  but  he  had  "  actually 
spent  less  than  $20  in  cash  that  year  in  college." 

2  Hiram  Murdock,  a  Quaker  farmer  at  -Gouverneur,  whom  he  had 
interested  in  minerals,  sends  down  a  box  of  calcites  "with  the 
ardent  prayer"  that  "thee  will  not  lose  sight  of  the  Pearl  of  Great 
Price";  and  a  cloth-weaver  and  fuller  at  Hoosick  Four  Corners, 
whom  Hall  had  inspired  by  his  lectures  on  chemistry,  for  years 
kept  him  supplied  with  suitings  in  exchange  for  minerals. 


88  JAMES  HALL 

He  gets  his  indulgence,  for  Hall  sees  to  it  that  he 
receives  his  share  of  the  dividends;  which,  New- 
berry  complains,  are  mostly  broken  brachiopods 
and  pieces  of  trilobites! 

Another  of  these  interesting  partnerships  in  the 
business  of  fossil  hunting  went  by  the  name  of 
"  Hall  and  Slade."  In  this  undertaking  Hall  fur- 
nished the  money  and  staged  Israel  Slade,  a  grad- 
uate of  the  Rensselaer  School  living  in  Pittstown, 
Rensselaer  county,  with  a  two-horse  team  and  a 
wagonful  of  oats.  Slade,  with  his  wife,  his  son, 
and  Hall's  younger  brother  William,  drove  first  to 
Carbondale,  Penna.,  to  collect  coal  plants  and  to 
reassure  Hall  that  the  coal  beds  do  not  extend  into 
New  York.  From  there,  as  the  cold  weather  came 
on,  he  drove  to  Philadelphia  with  letters  to  Doctor 
Samuel  G.  Morton  and  Conrad;  thence  to  Balti- 
more for  directions  from  Doctor  Ducatel,  and  so 
on  up  the  Roanoke  river  to  Salem,  Va.,  after 
Tertiary  fossils.  By  January  he  is  in  Camden, 
S.  Car.,  and  has  visited  all  the  mines  in  search  for 
minerals  and  sought  out  all  the  fossil  localities. 
Thence  he  goes  to  Sandersville,  Ga.,  and  by  April 
has  made  tremendous  collections  in  the  Claiborne, 
Ala.,  Tertiaries.  Here  he  runs  across  Doctor 
Koch,  who  had  already  acquired  notoriety  and 
money  out  of  his  misshapen  mastodon  or  "  Mis- 
sourium  "  which  he  had  exhibited  in  the  East  and 
then  sold  to  the  British  Museum  "  for  $10,000," 


"HALL  AND  SLADE"  89 

as  he  tells  Slade ;  and  Koch  was  here  at  Claiborne 
getting  out  the  materials  for  his  astonishing  and 
inscrutable  "  Hydrarchos,"  which,  dragging  Pro- 
fessor Silliman  in  its  train  (Hydrarchos  Sillimani), 
was  soon  to  distend  the  eyes  of  the  Boston  natural- 
ists. Slade  declares  that  he  himself  found  these 
specimens,  and  that  Koch  bribed  his  men  on  Judge 
Creagh's  plantation  to  let  him  have  them.  It  seems 
that  there  were  two  of  these  skeletons  in  the  rocks, 
ancient  whales  (Zeuglodon)  as  they  proved  to 
be,  and  old  Koch  got  both  of  them  away  from 
Slade.  And  it  is  well  known  that  he  managed  to 
match  the  two  together  and  make  one  "  Hydrar- 
chos "  1 14  feet  long,  to  the  great  scandal  of  the 
firm  of  "  Hall  and  Slade." 

By  early  summer  Slade  is  in  Tennessee  with 
letters  to  Doctor  Gerard  Troost,  one  of  the  sur- 
vivors of  that  extraordinary  coterie  of  scientific 
men  dispersed  from  Robert  Owen's  socialistic 
colony  at  New  Harmony  (Maclure,  Say,  Lesueur,a 
Richard  and  Dale  Owen),  whom  he  found  to  be 
"  an  obstinate  old  Dutchman  "  when  it  came  to  the 

3  Lesueur  was  a  student  of  Cuvier,  and  I  think  New  York  Palae- 
ontology may  now  confess  the  measure  of  its  debt  to  him.  Early 
in  1820  Lesueur  visited  Albany  at  the  request  of  the  State  Bound- 
ary Commission  and  here  he  was  quickly  found  by  Eaton,  then 
lecturing  at  the  Troy  Lyceum.  Forthwith  he  was  whisked  off,  as 
opportunity  presented,  into  the  Helderbergs  whose  teeming  fossils 
were  lying  nameless.  There  Cuvierian  eyes  and  Cuvierian  train- 
ing helped  Eaton,  the  Yankee  geologist,  to  Cuvierian  names,  the  first 
these  fossils  ever  had. 


90  JAMES  HALL 

business  of  securing  fossils;  but  on  the  whole  the 
collecting  venture  was  a  very  successful  one.4 

In  these  days,  too,  came  Caleb  Briggs,  Jr.,  a 
Rensselaer  School  graduate  who  was  to  contribute 
in  no  small  way  to  Hall's  solicitudes  as  well  as  to 
his  purposes.  Lieutenant  Mather,  by  permission 
of  Governor  Marcy,  had  been  released  from  New 
York  for  a  portion  of  each  year  to  organize  and 
conduct  a  Geological  Survey  of  Ohio,  where  he  was 
at  home;  and  he  had  taken  Briggs  along  for  his 
assistant.  The  young  man  saw  in  the  undeveloped 
and  unallotted  Ohio  lands  visions  of  great  wealth, 
and  he  arranged  a  triangular  combination  by 
which  he,  Mather  and  Hall  were  to  buy  into  these 
lands  under  congressional  sale,  severally,  but  hold 
their  titles  for  a  while  jointly.  Into  this  project  Hall 
entered.  Thus  they  acquired  and  took  up  options 
on  several  thousand  acres  of  land  believed  to  be  of 
fabulous  iron  and  coal  values,  on  the  Cuyahoga 
river  not  far  from  Cuyahoga  Falls.  They  bought 
and  they  sold  and  they  bought  again.  Through  ten 
years  Briggs's  letters  are  of  unpaid  notes,  of  pro- 
jected railroads,  of  interest  due,  of  visions  of  coal 

4Slade  was  not  without  experience  as  a  geologist  and  had  been 
for  a  while  on  the  Virginia  Survey  with  W.  B.  Rogers.  Mr.  Hall 
afterwards  acknowledges  his  obligations  to  Slade  for  the  limits 
of  certain  of  the  Virginia  formations  as  shown  in  his  map  of  the 
Middle  and  Western  States. 


OHIO  LANDS  91 

mines  fully  running  and  feeding  their  product  to 
iron  smelters  whose  chimney  stacks  he  could  trace 
with  his  pen  point. 

Mather  had  started  out  to  take  title  to  all  these 
lands,  accepting  from  the  other  partners  all  sorts 
of  unsecured  notes,  liens,  and  promises  to  pay,  and 
when  he  was  prepared  to  turn  over  the  individual 
titles  he  proposed  that  he  divide  the  parcels  accord- 
ing to  his  own  judgment,  put  the  blank  deeds  in  a 
hat  and  let  Dr.  Emmons  draw  for  each  party  of 
interest.  Somehow  this  proposal  did  not  make  a 
very  profound  appeal  to  Hall  and  we  are  of  the 
impression  that  it  never  went  through.  But  the 
outcome  of  it  all  was  this :  Briggs  started  the  pro- 
ject in  1837;  soon  after  he  left  Ohio  and  joined 
William  B.  Rogers  on  the  Geological  Survey  of 
Virginia,  and  in  that  capacity  had  an  informal  con- 
nection with  the  University  of  Virginia.  The  Ohio 
lands  were  hanging  over  them  like  the  sword  of 
Damocles,  and  Hall,  once  more  hard-pressed  for 
money,  begs  Briggs  to  induce  Professor  Rogers 
to  buy  his  entire  collection  for  the  University. 
Rogers  was  tempted,  and  Hall  promptly  withdrew 
his  offer;  just  as  he  did  later  when  after  years  of 
pleading  with  Agassiz  to  take  his  enormous  col- 
lections for  the  new  Museum  of  Comparative  Zoo- 
logy at  Cambridge,  and  when  Professor  Agassiz 
had  found  the  money,  Hall  refused  to  part  with  his 


92  JAMES  HALL 

materials  largely  for  the  reason  that  he  simply 
could  not  carry  on  his  work  without  them.  So  Hall 
kept  his  Ohio  lands  for  nearly  twenty  years,  until 
there  came  a  time  when  his  beloved  science  was  in 
danger  of  running  on  the  shoals  because  the  legis- 
lature of  New  York  refused  to  make  provision  for 
it.  Then  he  sold  at  once,  at  market  price,  so  that 
he  might,  as  he  did,  turn  the  money  into  his  work, 
into  paying  salaries  of  assistants  and  field  expenses, 
for  collections  and  artists,  thus  carrying  on  his  own 
broad  shoulders  the  load  which  by  right  and  of 
honor  belonged  to  the  people  of  the  State  of  New 
York. 

How  many  men  today  in  official  place  would, 
without  crying  out,  so  open  a  pocketbook,  lean  at 
the  very  best,  to  the  achievement  of  an  ideal?  It 
was  an  honorable  sacrifice,  one  that  tells  of  highest 
singleness  of  purpose;  and  it  is  one  of  a  sort  that 
the  scientific  servants  of  the  Empire  State  must 
accustom  themselves  to  without  wincing. 

In  1837,  just  after  entering  upon  his  new  com- 
mand in  his  own  District,  Mr.  Hall  received  his 
first  notable  recognition  from  a  learned  society  — 
a  diploma  of  membership  in  the  Imperial  Mineral- 
ogical  Society  of  St.  Petersburg,  that  ancient 
organization  which  has  ever  sought  out  the  young 
man  and  made  it  its  eminent  purpose  to  encourage 
evidences  of  scientific  promise.  It  must  have  been 


THROUGH  THE  WEST  93 

a  grateful  tribute  in  the  eyes  of  the  young  Hall,  as 
it  has  been  to  many  another  since,  for  perhaps  in 
all  the  world  of  scientific  organizations  none  has 
done  so  much  to  help  by  its  distinguished  recogni- 
tion the  upward  glances  of  the  devoted  scientific 
youth.  So  much  at  least  this  body,  changed  in  title 
after  the  fall  of  the  empire,  and  now  crushed  and 
bleeding  under  the  juggernaut  of  communism,  had 
to  its  very  great  credit. 

The  work  of  the  Geological  Survey  was  practi- 
cally done  by  1841  although  the  reports  were  not 
printed  until  1842  and  1843.  It  is  probable  that 
Hall  put  some  finishing  touches  to  his  pages  after 
the  season  of  1840,  especially,  as  we  show  presently, 
his  account  of  the  geological  history  of  Niagara 
Falls.  But  of  all  the  four  Geologists  he  was  by 
much  the  most  interested  in  seeing  how  far  the 
classification  of  the  New  York  Formations  held 
true  beyond  the  boundaries  of  New  York  State. 
His  view  of  the  problems  was  broad,  his  conviction 
as  to  the  worth  of  the  Survey  results  was  deep, 
and  had  he  not  promptly  determined  to  extend 
their  application  so  far  as  practicable  beyond  the 
boundaries  of  the  State,  it  seems  likely  that  the 
competitions  of  time  and  the  local  surveys  of  other 
States  might  have  invaded  or  impaired  the  New 
York  classification.  Therefore,  at  the  earliest 


94  JAMES  HALL 

opportunity,  in  the  spring  of  1841,  Hall  left  his 
work  in  New  York  and  joined  David  Dale  Owen 5 
on  a  trip  down  the  Ohio  river,  sailing,  to  use  his 
own  words,  "  on  a  flat  boat,  sleeping  on  a  box,  and 
collecting  fossils  all  along  from  Louisville  to  New 
Harmony."  Tieing  up  his  boat  at  various  mud 
ports  along  the  river,  he  made  side  trips  and 
detours  in  many  directions,  and  indeed,  on  this  trip 
he  traversed  more  than  4,000  miles  in  the  States  of 
Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  parts  of  Michigan,  Ken- 
tucky, Wisconsin,  Missouri  and  Iowa.  It  was  an 
enormous  area  to  cover  in  a  two  months  trip  but 
it  gave  him  just  the  data  he  needed  for  the  exten- 
sion of  the  New  York  classification  over  all  this 
region,  and  not  many  weeks  after  his  return  he  had 
written  out  his  observations  and  conclusions  and 
by  the  first  of  September  they  were  sent  in  for 
publication  to  the  American  Journal  of  Science.6 
His  determinations  were  not  too  late  for  his  New 
York  Report,  and  he  incorporated  them  by  intro- 
ducing in  it  a  "  Geological  Map  of  the  Middle  and 
Western  States,"  in  which  he  combined  not  only 
his  own  observations  and  those  of  his  colleagues  in 

6  Dr.  Owen,  son  of  the  founder  of  the  colony  at  New  Harmony, 
was  the  most  experienced  and  the  most  learned  of  the  western  geol- 
ogists. He  had  been  busied  with  the  rocks  of  the  Mississippi  Val- 
ley since  1834,  sometimes  alone,  sometimes  as  government  geologist 
and  sometimes  with  his  colleagues  Troost  of  Tennessee  and  Locke 
of  Ohio. 

6  Volume  42,  1842. 


JOHN  S.  NEWBERRY  95 

New  York  but  those  he  had  acquired  on  his  west- 
ern trip  as  well  as  data  from  his  official  colleagues 
in  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and  Virginia.  This 
map  had  as  its  distinctive  purpose  to  show  the  dis- 
tribution of  the  New  York  formations  outside  the 
boundaries  of  New  York.  It  established  a  strong 
and  proper  precedent  for  doing  in  future  years 
what  has  now  so  often  been  done  by  the  State  of 
New  York,  namely,  to  pursue  and  describe  the  New 
York  geological  formations  beyond  their  artificial 
geographic  boundaries. 

On  this  trip  through  the  West  an  incident  of 
unexpected  interest  occurred.  Hall  had  never  seen 
his  Ohio  lands,  so  took  the  opportunity  to  go  to 
Cuyahoga  Falls  and  look  them  over.  He  had  taken 
the  first  steamer  of  the  season  out  of  Buffalo  to 
Cleveland  and  thus  made  his  way  to  his  estate.  His 
business  took  him  to  the  farm  of  Henry  Newberry, 
and  there  he  became  much  interested  in  Mr.  New- 
berry's  son  John,  to  whom  we  have  already  re- 
ferred. Hall  has  told  about  this  meeting.7 

Newberry  was  a  keen-witted  youth,  interested  in 
all  branches  of  science,  and  it  seemed  as  though  it 
were  the  influence  of  just  such  a  man  as  Hall  that 
was  needed  to  guide  the  young  man's  activities. 
Hall  says: 


7  In  a  letter  printed  as  a  part  of  the  memorial  of  John  Strong 
Newberry  prepared  by  Professor  John  J.  Stevenson  for  publication 
in  the  American  Geologist,  July  1893,  p.  14. 


96  JAMES  HALL 

"  1  found  him  a  most  amiable  and  intelligent  young  man, 
deeply  interested  in  natural  history  and  conversant  with  the 
geology  of  his  neighborhood,  having  acquired  a  great  deal 
of  knowledge  from  the  study  of  the  rocks  in  his  father's 
coal  mines  and  otherwise  well  acquainted  with  the  interest- 
ing localities  within  the  State.  *  *  *  He  has  often  said 
to  me  that  my  coming  to  Cuyahoga  Falls,  fresh  from  the 
field  of  New  York  geology,  opened  his  eyes  to  things  which 
had  not  before  attracted  his  attention  and  decided  him  to 
devote  himself  to  geological  science.  *  *  *  Dr.  New- 
berry  was  at  that  time  a  young  man  about  nineteen  years 
old  while  I  was  in  my  thirtieth  year.  *  *  *  Before  we 
parted  we  had  become  fast  friends  initiating  a  friendship 
which  continued  uninterruptedly  for  more  than  fifty  years." 

Doctor  Newberry's  efficient  subsequent  career, 
not  alone  as  a  discoverer  and  teacher  in  geology  but 
in  the  eminent  medical  service  he  rendered  to  the 
United  States  Sanitary  Commission  during  the 
Civil  War,  brought  distinction  alike  to  pupil  and 
patron. 


JAMES  HALL 
1843 

(From  a  daguerreotype) 


2 
THE  BOARD  OF  GEOLOGISTS 

Classification  —  Major  Units  —  Taconic  System  —  Associa- 
tion of  American  Geologists  —  Geologists  and  Natural- 
ists —  American  Association  for  the  Advancement  of 
Science  —  Commemorative  tablet. 

IF  the  theme  of  this  book  compels  us  to  single  out 
one  man  for  eminent  consideration,  in 
so  doing  it  is  not  desired  to  obscure  in  any 
way  the  distinguished  merits  of  his  official  col- 
leagues. All  rendered  superior  service  and  they 
held  each  other  in  mutual  confidence  and  respect. 
It  was  the  duty  of  the  Board  of  Geologists  to  pass 
upon  the  weightier  matters  of  classification  of  the 
rock  formations  and  to  match  together  discrepan- 
cies, apparent  or  real,  among  the  different  districts. 
In  one  important  matter  they  were  united,  and  I 
believe  this  action  was  in  large  measure  due  to  the 
influence  of  Eaton,  direct  and  transmitted;  the 
erection  of  a  series  of  unit  formations  bearing 
either  distinctive  New  York  local  names  or  desig- 
nations derived  from  their  rock  or  fossil  char- 
acters; these  grouped  together  by  local  terms  of 
larger  meaning  and  finally  all  put  into  a  primary 
category  of  major  divisions,  Champlain,  Ontario, 
Mohawk,  Helderberg,  Erie,  and  Catskill,  which 
from  below  upward  embraced  all  the  lesser  divi- 

7  [97] 


98  JAMES  HALL 

sions.  The  Geologists  adopted  the  practise  of  em- 
ploying New  York  names  alone,  and  were  loyal  to 
it;  and  while  this  may  be  taken  as  an  evidence  of 
their  independence  from  European  influence,  it 
expressed  also  their  conviction  that  here  was 
geology  that  must  be  taken  as  an  American  stand- 
ard. Their  own  use  of  these  names  was,  however, 
not  uniform,  and  Hall  wrote  to  Lyell  in  1842  that 
he  did  not  care  for  these  larger  divisional  terms. 
The  entire  scheme  was  used  by  them  with  some 
freedom  and  some  individual  differences.  Corre- 
lation with  the  English  divisional  terms  was  vague, 
and  even  as  late  as  1842,  Hall  and  Lyell  were  speak- 
ing of  the  "  Silurian  "  rocks  of  Moscow,  N.  Y., 
and  their  fossils,  a  horizon  far  up  in  the  Devonian 
formation.  Here  again  is  evidence  of  the  influence 
which  nearly  got  control  of  Hall,  who  had  come  to 
understand  his  fossils  rather  better  than  his  col- 
leagues; that  of  the  claims  which  Sir  Roderick 
Murchison  was  strenuously  enforcing  in  England 
with  all  his  powerful  influence,  on  behalf  of  his 
"  Silurian  "  as  against  the  "  Cambrian  "  of  Sedg- 
wick;  a  controversy  which  arose  over  the  attempt 
to  define  a  geological  system  as  a  conception  rather 
than  as  a  delimited  unit  determined  by  slow  inva- 
sion and  recessions  of  the  sea  and  its  faunas. 

It  seems  to  us  now  much  to  be  regretted  that  the 
major  divisional  units  proposed  by  the  New  York 
men  and  referred  to  above  were  not  at  once  sub- 


THE  TACONIC  SYSTEM  99 

stantiated  by  use,  for  time  has  shown  that  they 
carried  a  more  exact  expression  of  the  natural 
grouping  of  the  palaeozoic  formations  of  interior 
America  than  do  the  European  names  which  usage 
has  imposed,  and  in  some  measure  they  have  a 
juster  claim  to  admission.  As  Hall,  who  alone  was 
to  continue  official  geological  work  in  New  York, 
himself  soon  abandoned  these  major  terms,  their 
displacement  was  made  effective  at  a  later  date 
when  James  D.  Dana  excluded  them  wholly  from 
his  "  Manual  of  Geology,"  a  book  which  at  once 
became  and  continued  the  most  influential  stand- 
ardizing factor  of  the  science  in  this  country.1 

There  was  another  matter  which  the  Board  of 
Geologists  considered  in  season  and  out  of  season 
and  upon  which  they  reached  no  unified  conclusion. 
This  was  the  troublesome  proposition  brought  in 
by  Doctor  Emmons  from  the  Second  District,  the 
Taconic  System,  which  in  his  view  was  a  great 
series  of  sedimentary  rocks  lying  below  the  Pots- 
dam sandstone  and  representing  the  opening  chap- 
ter in  the  life  history  of  the  world.  It  was  a  con- 
fusing issue,  and  Emmons  did  actually  discover  in 
New  York  this  earliest  or  "  primordial  "  fauna, 
but  this  important  determination  was  befogged  by 
the  involved  and  misinterpreted  geology  of  the 

1  The  geologists  of  the  present  New  York  Survey  have  endeavored 
to  reinstate  and  redefine  these  major  terms;  an  effort  in  which 
they  have  had  the  co-operation  of  Professor  Schuchert  of  Yale. 


100  JAMES  HALL 

Taconic  System,  and  many  subsequent  references 
to  it  are  forced  in  upon  this  history.  The  Board 
itself  tacitly  conceded  the  conception  and  let  Doctor 
Emmons  be  entirely  responsible  for  it.  Lieutenant 
Mather  admitted  it,  and  Hall  let  it  pass  in  his  final 
report,  and  none  of  them  realized  that  they  were 
transmitting  to  posterity  a  venomous  problem  in 
American  geology. 

It  is  a  very  noteworthy  fact,  already  casually 
referred  to,  that  out  of  the  deliberations  and  con- 
scious needs  of  this  Board  of  Geologists  was  born 
the  germ  of  the  American  Association  for  the 
Advancement  of  Science.  The  history  runs  in  this 
way:  These  annual  meetings  of  the  Board  were 
held  after  each  field  season.  Early  in  the  year 
1838,  Lieutenant  Mather,  who  had  kept  in  corre- 
spondence with  Professor  Edward  Hitchcock  of 
Amherst,  his  predecessor  in  appointment  for  the 
First  District,  addressed  a  letter  to  the  Board  sug- 
gesting "  the  propriety  of  a  meeting  of  the  geolo- 
gists and  other  scientific  men  of  our  country  at 
some  central  point  next  fall,  say  New  York  or 
Philadelphia."  In  this  letter  he  casually  remarks 
that  "  such  a  meeting  has  been  suggested  by  Pro- 
fessor Hitchcock/'2 

This  matter  was  taken  up  for  informal  con- 
sideration at  the  meeting  of  1838  held  at  the  house 

2  See  also  letter  from  E.  Hitchcock  to  H.  D.  Rogers,  Apr.  4, 
1838,  as  printed  in  Life  and  Labors  of  William  B.  Rogers. 


ASSO'N  OF  AMERICAN  GEOLOGISTS     101 

of  Doctor  Ebenezer  Emmons,  at  the  corner  of 
High  Street  and  Hudson  Avenue,  Albany,  and 
after  discussion  it  was  agreed  to,  and  Mr.  Van- 
uxem  was  authorized  to  open  correspondence  with 
the  geologists  of  the  country  with  reference  to 
carrying  this  project  into  effect.  There  were 
present  at  this  meeting  Emmons,  Mather,  Van- 
uxem,  and  Hall;  Conrad,  James  Eights,  and  per- 
haps one  other  of  the  field  assistants,  with  Eben- 
ezer Emmons,  Jr. ;  and  both  he  and  Professor  Hall 
have  left  an  account  of  the  incident.3 

Professor  Hall  has  said  to  me  that  the  letters 
sent  out  by  Vanuxem,  especially  to  William  B.  and 
Henry  D.  Rogers,  brought  no  result  that  year,  but 
the  following  year  so  much  encouragement  was 
received  from  various  geologists  in  the  country 
that  it  was  decided  to  call  a  meeting  in  Philadelphia 
for  April,  1840.  The  meeting  was  held  and  the 
Association  of  American  Geologists  was  organized. 
This  Association  met  again  in  Philadelphia  in  1841. 
Its  third  meeting  was  at  Boston  in  1842.  At  the 
Boston  meeting  the  American  Society  of  Natural- 

3  Ebenezer  Emmons,  Jr.,  was  the  gifted  son  of  Doctor  Emmons, 
who  had  all  the  elements  of  a  versatile  genius.  He  was  a  very 
superior  artist,  the  illustrator  for  many  of  the  volumes  of  the  Nat- 
ural History  and  he  was  not  without  geological  experience.  Dur- 
ing his  entire  life  he  was  more  or  less  directly  concerned  with  the 
work  of  the  Natural  History  Survey  and  when  I  joined  it  he  was 
assigned  to  me  as  draftsman.  Some  of  his  most  faithful  and  accu- 
rate work  was  done  when  he  was  past  seventy.  He  died  in  1908 
at  the  age  of  eighty-seven  years. 


102  JAMES  HALL 

ists  expressed  a  desire  to  join  the  geologists,  and 
although  the  Boston  meeting  was  called  as  the 
meeting  of  the  Association  of  American  Geolo- 
gists, in  the  course  of  its  sessions  its  name  was 
changed  to  that  of  the  Association  of  American 
Geologists  and  Naturalists.  This  organization 
continued  its  annual  meetings  until  1847,  when  its 
scope  was  widened  and  its  title  changed  to  take  in 
all  qualified  men  of  science  in  the  country,  under 
the  name  of  the  American  Association  for  the 
Advancement  of  Science.4 

When  Hall,  as  President  of  the  American  Asso- 
ciation for  the  Advancement  of  Science,  in  1856, 
gave  his  address  of  welcome  at  the  meeting  in  the 
old  Geological  Hall  at  Albany,  he  made  reminiscent 
reference  to  other  meetings  of  the  Board  held  after 
the  field  seasons  of  1838  and  39: 

4  The  birth  of  this  great  body  of  American  men  of  science 
known  as  the  American  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science, 
historically  recorded  above,  is  commemorated  on  a  bronze  plate 
attached  to  the  Emmons  house,  Hudson  avenue  and  High  street, 
Albany,  erected  with  the  approval  of  the  Association,  and  bear- 
ing the  following  inscription: 

In  this  house,  the  home  of 

Doctor  Ebenezer  Emmons 

The  first  formal  efforts  were  made,  in 

1838  and  1839,  toward  the  organization  of  the 

Association  of  American  Geologists 

The  parent  body  of  the 
American  Association   for  the 

Advancement  of  Science 
By  whose  authority  this  tablet  is  erected. 
1901 


ORGANIZATION  OF  A.  A.  A.  S.      103 

"  Before  concluding  I  can  not  forbear  calling  your  atten- 
tion to  the  circumstance  that  we  are  now  assembled  under 
the  same  roof  where  our  Association  in  embryo  first  met, 
and  where  the  true  hearts  and  kindly  spirits  of  some  among 
our  departed  colleagues  first  held  counsel  upon  the  question, 
then  momentous,  whether  American  scientific  men  could  be 
prevailed  upon  to  unite  in  a  harmonious  confraternity  for 
the  advancement  of  their  cause. 

"  In  yonder  chamber,  eighteen  years  ago,  sat  half  a  dozen 
men  who  had  just  returned  from  the  arduous  field-labors 
of  the  year,  and  were  comparing  their  observations  one  with 
another,  and  each  one  communicating  freely  new  facts 
and  new  conclusions,  for  the  harmonious  working  of  the 
whole  in  a  single  science.  This  labor  over,  the  question  of 
inviting  other  laborers  in  the  same  field  of  science,  to  join 
them  in  similar  interchange  of  views,  facts,  and  results,  was 
discussed ;  on  the  one  hand  with  sanguine  hope,  and  on  the 
other  with  timid  doubt. 

"A  second  year  the  same  parties  were  assembled  in  the 
same  room,  and  around  the  same  table,  when  the  subject  was 
again  discussed,  and  what  had  before  appeared  desirable  now 
seemed  a  pressing  necessity,  and  it  was  decided  to  take  some 
action.  The  youngest  member  of  that  group,  who  felt  him- 
self too  inexperienced  to  take  any  prominent  part  in  these 
discussions,  stands  before  you  to  advocate,  not  his  own,  but 
the  merits  of  his  colleagues ;  and  though  the  birth  of  the 
Association  was  proclaimed  in  a  sister  city,  we  claim  for 
our  own  city  the  inception  of  the  Association  of  American 
Geologists,  of  which  our  present  Association  for  the  Ad- 
vancement of  Science  is  the  legitimate  heir." 


HISTORICAL  DEVELOPMENTS  AND  PERSONAL 
CONTACTS 

European  geologists  in  America  —  Schoepf,  Maclure, 
Featherstonhaugh  —  Coming  of  Sir  Charles  Lyell  — 
Reception  by  Hall  —  Their  trip  through  New  York  — 
Visit  to  Niagara  —  Lyell's  enthusiasm  —  The  work  of 
the  Geologists  —  His  farther  travels  —  His  lectures 
and  Hall's  assistance  —  Hall's  misgivings  over  Lyell's 
intentions  —  The  Newspaper  attack  —  Restiveness 
among  the  geologists  over  Lyell  —  Hall  regrets  his 
action  —  Proposes  to  write  a  text-book  of  geology  — 
Lyell's  wide  acquaintance  with  American  geology. 

THE  volcanic  outburst  of  reports  from  the  Geo- 
logical Surveys  throughout  the  States  from 
1835  to  1845,  years  when  the  sovereign 
competency  of  the  States  was  unchallenged  and 
national  consciousness  was  not  yet  fully  awake, 
aroused  wide  interest  in  western  Europe.  We 
must  stop  to  remind  ourselves  that  geology  was 
still  a  very  young  science  just  emerging  from  a 
nebula  of  hypotheses  and  contentious  guess-work 
into  an  orderly  and  rapidly  increasing  array  of  con- 
crete effect  and  cause.  Its  novelty,  the  tremendous 
sweep  of  its  propositions  and  the  romance  of  its 
buried  treasures  gave  all  its  adventures  wide  popu- 
lar appeal.  English  and  French  geologists  were 
making  rational  progress  in  laying  the  foundations 

[104] 


VISITING  GEOLOGISTS  105 

of  historical  geology  and  with  Italy  and  Switzer- 
land were  finding  out  the  principles  of  dynamic 
geology. 

The  new-found  developments  from  the  western 
world  were  therefore  of  exciting  interest,  and  as 
soon  as  the  reports  of  the  New  York  men  were 
spread  abroad  there  began  an  invasion  of  the 
country  by  European  geologists  who  would  com- 
pare the  old  world  with  the  new  and  help  to  set  the 
whole  terraqueous  globe  in  order.  New  York 
had  been  portrayed  as  an  extraordinary  panorama 
of  the  old  geology,  the  palaeozoic  history  of  the 
earth.  Its  terms  had  been  made  lucid  and  were 
defined  with  reasonable  precision.  Its  system  was 
individualized  and  not  poured  into  an  European 
mold.  It  had  none  of  the  sunrise-twilight-and- 
evening-star  poesy  with  which  Rogers  had  apostro- 
phized the  old  rocks  of  Pennsylvania,  and  it  had 
escaped  the  necessity  of  weighing,  like  the  South 
Atlantic  States,  the  Old  World  and  New  World 
divisions  of  Cretaceous  and  Tertiary.  "  London 
Clay  "  and  "  Bagshot  Sand  "  did  not  enter  into  the 
catalogue  of  its  anxieties. 

Right  after  the  Revolution  the  Hessian  surgeon, 
Schoepf,  having  been  discharged  from  military 
captivity  by  the  American  patriots,  traveled  exten- 
sively through  the  Appalachian  States  and  wrote 
what  would  have  been  an  illuminating  account  of 
their  structure  had  it  not  been  couched  in  a  tongue 


106  JAMES  HALL 

which  the  Anglo-Saxons  of  that  day  declined  to 
know;  so  that  his  work  was  virtually  lost  until  it 
had  become  a  mere  historical  curiosity.  William 
Maclure,  in  the  first  decade  of  the  last  century  and 
soon  after  his  arrival  from  England,  had  pre- 
pared at  the  cost  of  colossal  labor,  a  geological 
map  and  description  of  the  entire  known  territory 
of  the  public  domain,  but  however  it  may  be  re- 
garded as  marking  a  brave  start  in  geological 
cartography,  its  result  was  too  intangible  and  too 
devoid  of  detail  to  arouse  enthusiasm  or  to  greatly 
advance  the  science.  It  stands  as  a  memorial  to 
the  prowess  of  a  man  who  contributed  much  to 
elevate  American  science.  George  W.  Feather- 
stonhaugh  had  come  over  from  England,  had 
engaged  in  a  certain  amount  of  geological  explora- 
tion under  Government  auspices,  and  in  1831  had 
launched  a  geological  magazine,  The  Monthly 
American  Journal  of  Geology,  published  at  Phila- 
delphia and  indorsed  by  the  brilliant  stars  in  the 
British  geological  galaxy:  Murchison,  Conybeare, 
Sedgwick,  Buckland,  and  Greenough.  Feather- 
stonhaugh's  attitude  toward  his  American  col- 
leagues was  "  superior "  and  he  became  tre- 
mendously unpopular.  His  "  Journal  "  showed  the 
effect  of  this  and  was  discontinued  at  the  end  of 
the  first  volume.1 

1  Featherstonhaugh  came  to  America  a  young  man,  and  not  long 
after  landing   rescued  the   daughter   of  James   Duane   Livingston, 


SIR  CHARLES  LYELL  107 

The  advent  of  Sir  Charles  Lyell  to  America  just 
as  the  New  York  Survey  was  closing,  was  a  dif- 
ferent matter;  he  came  to  learn  rather  than  to 
teach.  It  was  as  though  the  America-trained 
geologists  had  spread  a  tempting  repast  which  dis- 
tinguished Europeans  would  venture  to  taste,  and 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  Mr.  Lyell's  visit  was  of 
somewhat  sensational,  if  reserved,  interest  to  the 
learned  centers  of  America.  He  came  as  a  philoso- 
pher looking  for  more  and  more  facts  on  which  to 
expand  his  "  Principles  of  Geology,"  already  in  its 
sixth  edition.  Indeed,  Mr.  Lyell  had  long  roamed 
far  and  wide  in  search  of  the  essentials  of  his 
science.  He  was  a  man  of  quick  insight,  large 
absorptive  power  and  plastic  mind.  He  was  in- 
tensely active,  sought  and  found  contact  with  everv 

Chancellor  of  New  York,  from  a  runaway  horse  and,  as  a  romantic 
sequel,  married  her.  They  established  themselves  at  Duanesburg,  not 
far  from  Albany,  where  he  maintained  a  manorial  home  and  during 
the  period  of  his  residence  took  an  influential  part  in  affairs,  being 
closely  associated  with  the  Patroon  Van  Rensselaer  in  agricultural 
development  and  especially  in  the  promulgation  of  the  Albany  and 
Schenectady  Railway  of  which  both  were  signatories  to  the  original 
charter.  He  was  a  man  of  much  learning  and  force  but  overbearing 
in  his  relations  with  his  associates,  and  after  he  left  Duanesburg  he 
did  not  hesitate  to  attack  General  Van  Rensselaer  and  Professor 
Eaton  violently  in  his  "  Journal."  His  geological  adventures  in  the 
Arkansas  and  Red  River  regions  were  carried  on  under  govern- 
ment auspices  after  he  left  New  York.  He  never  returned  to  the 
manor,  but  tiring  of  America  returned  to  England,  was  sent  back 
here  as  British  representative  on  the  Boundary  Commission,  and 
died  in  Havre  where  he  was  serving  his  government  in  a  diplo- 
matic capacity. 


108  JAMES  HALL 

geologist  within  reach,  traveled  enormous  distances 
under  varied,  diverting  and  ofter  troublesome 
experiences.  His  first  trip  to  America  lasted  from 
July,  1841,  to  August,  1842.  On  all  this  voyage 
he  was  accompanied  by  his  wife,  and  they  together 
were  watchful  of,  amused  by,  and  measurably 
sympathetic  with  the  phases  of  social  and  economic 
life  which  the  new  democracy  revealed  to  them. 
What  Mr.  Lyell's  part  is,  in  this  story  of  the  life 
of  James  Hall  and  in  the  interpretation  of  New 
York  geology,  is  indicated  by  a  sheaf  of  letters 
beginning  before  he  arrived  in  New  York  in 
August,  1841  and  continuing  for  twenty-five 
years;  letters  which  contain  materials  of  bio- 
graphical value  and  scientific  interest  to  which 
there  is  no  reference  in  the  "  Life  and  Letters  of 
Sir  Charles  Lyell."  2 

2"  By  his  sister-in-law,  Mrs.  Lyell"  (1881).  These  volumes  are 
composed  of  letters  written  by  Lyell  and  of  extracts  from  his  jour- 
nal; in  other  words,  they  are  essentially  autobiographical.  Mr. 
Lyell  was  the  most  distinguished  geologist  who  had  ever  touched 
these  American  shores.  Already  he  had  been  President  of  the 
Geological  Society  of  London,  and  had  issued  the  first  volume  of 
his  "  Principles "  as  early  as  1830.  The  first  of  these  letters  are 
written  from  his  home  at  16  Haari  Street,  a  place  where  distin- 
guished men  of  science  were  wont  to  resort  and  which  Charles 
Darwin  called  his  "morning  house  of  call."  Most  of  the  rest  are 
dated  from  his  later  home,  53  Harley  Street.  While  Lyell  was 
not  regarded  by  his  contemporaries  as  a  particularly  keen  observer 
in  the  field,  he  was  by  common  consent  the  leader  in  co-ordinating 
and  philosophic  thought.  Darwin  said  that  geology  owed  more 
to  him  than  to  any  other  man  then  living. 


LY ELL'S  FIRST  VISIT  109 

In  one  of  these  is  the  statement,  made  as  he  was 
sailing  home  from  his  first  trip,  that  he  had  visited 
forty-three  counties  in  the  State  of  New  York 
under  the  guidance  of  the  geologists.  There  was 
not  one  member  of  the  Geological  Board  who  had 
had  so  broad  an  experience  in  his  own  State.  Mr. 
Lyell's  immediate  destination  as  soon  as  he  had 
landed  in  Boston  and  could  escape  from  the  em- 
braces of  the  distinguished  men  waiting  to  receive 
him  there  and  in  New  Haven,  was  Niagara  Falls; 
and  we  find  him,  therefore,  right  in  the  first  chap- 
ter of  his  "  Travels  in  North  America  "  and  of  his 
"  Letters,"  getting  to  Niagara  Falls  by  the  shortest 
route.  Lyell  came  on  to  Albany  to  meet  Hall. 
One  may  well  suspect  that  the  young  American 
geologist,  who  was  just  launching  his  craft,  felt 
among  the  embraces  of  hospitality  no  little  awe, 
mingled  with  a  tremor  of  apprehension  as  to  what 
would  become  of  all  his  treasured  data  if  he  too 
freely  unbosomed  himself  to  this  older  and  much 
experienced  personage.  Indeed,  we  shall  see  that 
a  few  months  later  Hall  did  become  alarmed  lest 
this  gimlet-eyed  Englishman  had  bored  too  deep 
into  his  penetralia.  At  once  the  two  took  the  field ; 
first  into  the  graptolite-bearing  shales  of  the  Nor- 
manskill  a  few  miles  below  Albany  —  and  it  was 
here  that  Lyell  made  the  note  that  he  was  half 
inclined  to  sympathize  with  the  New  York  citizens 
who  insisted  upon  searching  these  ancient  Silurian 


110  JAMES  HALL 

black  shales  for  coal.  Then  they  made  their  way 
westward,  stopping  off  at  Little  Falls,  where  the 
Mohawk  river  has  deserted  its  ancient  course  and 
cut  out  the  historic  and  picturesque  rock  gorge  of 
the  Mohawk  river,  displaying  the  contact  of  the 
Silurian  with  the  crystalline  tongue  of  the  Adi- 
rondacks.  A  little  farther  on,  at  Frankfort,  they 
struck  to  the  south  and  followed  the  "  Gulf  "  south- 
ward up  to  its  summit  at  Cedarville,  making  a 
traverse  of  the  "  Upper  Silurian  " ;  from  there  to 
Rochester  and  to  Lockport  to  inspect  the  great  rock 
sections  of  the  Silurian  at  the  Falls  of  the  Genesee 
river  and  in  the  locks  of  the  Erie  Canal.  It  was 
under  the  influence  of  these  experiences  then  and 
later,  for  Mr.  Lyell  was  frequently  in  New  York 
after  this  time,  that  he  "  became  convinced  that  we 
must  turn  to  the  New  World  if  we  wish  to  see  in 
perfection  the  oldest  monuments  of  the  earth's 
history  so  far  at  least  as  relates  to  its  earliest 
inhabitants.  Certainly  in  no  other  country  are 
these  ancient  strata  developed  on  a  grander  scale 
or  more  plentifully  charged  with  fossils;  and  as 
they  are  nearly  horizontal,  the  order  of  their  rela- 
tive position  is  always  clear  and  unequivocal." 
And  so  with  glances  at  the  Ridge  Road  along  Lake 
Ontario,  whose  beach  nature  he  recognizes,  though 
he  compares  them  to  the  osar  of  Sweden,  and 
with  a  look  at  a  recently  found  mastodon,  they 
make  their  way  to  Niagara  Falls  toward  which 


WITH  LYELL  AT  NIAGARA        111 

they  were  carried  "  along  at  the  rate  of  sixteen 
miles  an  hour  on  a  railway  often  supported  on  piles 
[they  were  traveling  over  a  railroad  surveyed  only 
a  few  years  before  by  Eben  N.  Horsford],  through 
large  swamps  covered  with  aquatic  trees  and 
shrubs  or  through  forests  with  occasional  clearings 
where  orchards  are  planted  by  anticipation  among 
the  stumps  before  they  have  even  had  time  to  run 
up  log  houses." 

The  two  men  spent  five  days  together  at  Niagara 
Falls.  They  were  days  for  Lyell  of  dramatic 
experience  and  excited  annotation.  His  quick 
apprehension  caught  the  significance  of  the 
grander  features  and  the  meaning  of  the  shell- 
bearing  post-glacial  sands  above  the  rocks  on  Goat 
Island  and  in  the  Gorge  walls,  while  Hall  found  an 
interpretation  of  the  drift  blocked  valley  at  the 
whirlpool  leading  down  to  St.  Davids;  then 
together  they  determined  the  clues  to  the  entirely 
modern  activity  and  work  of  the  river  and  its  cata- 
ract. The  wondrous  records  of  work  done,  meas- 
urable in  terms  of  the  continuing  working  force, 
the  stupendous  simplicity  of  the  great  chronometer 
as  it  revealed  itself  to  him,  made  a  profound  im- 
pression on  the  spiritual  sense  of  the  distinguished 
philosopher,  and  he  closes  the  second  chapter  of  his 
"  Travels  "  with  a  paragraph  whose  sentiment  has 
echoed  from  many  another  heart : 


112  JAMES  HALL 

"  The  geologist  may  muse  and  speculate  on  these  events 
unt>il,  filled  with  awe  and  admiration,  he  forgets  the  presence 
of  the  mighty  cataract  itself  and  no  longer  sees  the 
rapid  motion  of  its  waters  nor  hears  their  sound  as  they 
fall  into  the  deep  abyss.  But  whenever  his  thoughts  are 
recalled  to  the  present,  the  tone  of  his  mind,  the  sensations 
awakened  in  his  soul,  will  be  found  to  be  in  perfect  harmony 
with  the  grandeur  and  beauty  of  the  glorious  scene  which 
surrounds  him." 

Lyell  had  brought  to  Niagara  a  very  remarkable 
bird's-eye  sketch  of  the  gorge  and  river  made  some 
years  before  by  Robert  Bakewell,  Jr.,  and  this 
with  Hall's  aid  he  colored  geologically,  used  in  his 
American  lectures,  reproduced  in  his  books  and  it 
has  become  one  of  the  classic  pictures  of  the  Falls. 
It  was  one  of  the  things  that  alarmed  Hall  for  the 
safety  of  his  golden  fleece,  as  we  shall  see. 

From  the  Falls  the  two  geologists  traveled  to 
"  the  large  town  of  Buffalo,"  Williamsville,  and 
LeRoy,  to  Geneseo  and  the  Portage  Falls  where 
Hall's  memorial  now  stands.  Returning  to  Gen- 
eseo, Hall  left  Lyell,  hastened  back  to  Albany,  and 
at  once  made  preparation  for  his  trigonometrical 
survey  of  the  Niagara  Falls  which  he  completed 
in  time  for  incorporation  in  his  report,  and  which 
has  served  a  highly  important  purpose  in  establish- 
ing the  rate  of  retreat  of  the  floor  of  the  cataract. 
Lyell  left  by  stage  for  Blossburg,  Penna.,  travel- 
ing by  way  of  Dansville  and  Bath,  where  he  ven- 
tured to  dissuade  an  adventurer  from  sinking  a 


GEOLOGICAL  PILGRIMS  113 

costly  shaft  for  coal  but  got  a  reply  which  leads 
him  to  the  reflection  that  — 

"  Every  scientific  man  who  discourages  a  favorite  mining 
scheme  must  make  up  his  mind  to  be  as  ill-received  as  the 
physician  who  gives  an  honest  opinion  that  his  patient's 
disorder  is  incurable." 

From  Bath  to  Corning  and  Blossburg,  where  he 
had  the  opportunity  which  Hall  desired  him  to 
have,  of  seeing  the  relations  of  the  coal  to  the  New 
York  rocks;  thence,  by  way  of  "  Jefferson  "  (Mon- 
tour  Falls),  Geneva,  and  Auburn,  he  returned  to 
Albany. 

With  pious  thought,  Hall  at  once  took  the  distin- 
guished geologist  to  Troy  to  call  on  Professor 
Eaton,  then  within  a  few  months  of  the  end  of  his 
life.  The  next  trip  was  a  mastodon  hunt  in  the 
swamps  about  the  Catskills.  Then  followed  a  tour 
through  the  Helderberg  Mountains  and  over  to 
Schoharie  to  see  the  Gebhards  and  their  collections 
of  fossils,  the  two  little  dreaming  of  the  historic 
touch  they  were  giving  to  a  place  that  today  echoes 
the  hammer  blows  of  savants  and  students  —  of 
Eaton  and  Agassiz,  De  Verneuil  and  Desor, 
Marcou  and  Logan,  of  Silliman  and  Dana,  the 
Rogerses,  Roemer  and  Barrois;  scores  of  leaders 
and  learners  of  the  science,  a  continuing  pro- 
cession. The  great  plaza  of  palaeozoic  cliffs  which 
make  the  Helderberg  escarpment  of  the  "  Indian 
Ladder,"  and  which  command  the  panorama  of  the 


114  JAMES  HALL 

confluent  Hudson  and  Mohawk  valleys,  is  now  a 
reserved  public  monument  consecrated  to  its  geol- 
ogy and  to  the  memory  of  the  men  who  have 
unfolded  its  history.3 

x  Lyell  found  the  Helderbergs  in  a  ferment  of 
excitement.  The  antifeudal  "  Helderberg  War  " 
was  at  its  height  and  the  leaseholders  of  the 
Patroon,  Van  Rensselaer,  were  in  arms  against  his 
agents.  The  "  embattled  farmers  "  were  shooting 
off  guns  in  reckless  fashion,  killing  sheriff's  depu- 
ties and  maiming  the  State  militia,  and  this  expir- 
ing outburst  against  emphyteutic  leaseholds  in 
America  excited  the  traveler's  keenest  interest. 
Soon,  however  (September  27th),  he  left  for  New 
York,  finding  the  river  scenery  "  more  beautiful 
than  ever."  His  days  with  Hall  had  filled  him 
with  enthusiastic  regard  for  the  work  done  in  New 
York  and  had  laid  the  foundation  of  a  deep  per- 
sonal attachment  to  Hall;  Lyell  was  reserved,  his 
lecture  audiences  in  American  cities  found  him 
"  chilly  "  in  Philadelphia,  "  distant  "  in  New  York, 
and  "  dull "  in  Boston,  yet  as  soon  as  he  reaches 
Philadelphia  his  concern  in  the  New  York  work  is 

3  The  "  Indian  Ladder "  was  acquired  by  the  late  John  Boyd 
Thacher  of  Albany,  a  constructive  citizen  and  historian  of  dis- 
tinction, with  the  purpose  of  setting  it  apart  as  a  public  park  and 
monument  because  of  its  geologic  interest  and  scenic  beauty.  Mr. 
Thacher  did  not  -live  to  carry  out  his  intentions  but  they  have  been 
made  effective  by  his  widow.  The  reservation  is  known  as  the 
John  Boyd  Thacher  Park. 


LY ELL  TO  HALL  115 

so  keen  that  he  writes  Hall  at  once  of  his  experi- 
ences with  Conrad  and  Vanuxem  whom  he  has 
visited,  and  a  part  of  this  letter  may  appropriately 
be  inserted,  the  latter  portion  of  it  having  even  yet 
some  concern  to  the  classification  of  the  New  York 
rocks : 

PHILADELPHIA,  Oct.  i,  1842. 
MY  DEAR  HALL: 

*  *  *  We  reached  this  .  in  2  days  after  leaving 
Albany,  and  I  started  without  delay  with  Mr.  Conrad  to 
explore  the  Green  Sand  of  New  Jersey,  on  which  in  all  I 
have  spent  three  delightful  days  much  struck  with  its  close 
analogy  with  the  cretaceous  of  Europe  and  have  collected 
some  forty  species,  five  of  which  are  new  to  Morton  and 
Conrad.  I  have  been  much  pleased  with  Conrad,  and  am 
sure  that  were  he  not  left  isolated  and  could  have  more 
frequent  intercourse  with  congenial  souls,  he  would  no  longer 
see  difficulties  or  dwell  so  much  on  his  constitutional 
maladies.  I  have  got  your  one  dollar  from  Mitchell's  agent 
Mr.  Barnes,  but  not  the  uncoloured  map.  I  will  pay  it 
you  when  we  meet.  If  you  get  the  missing  Geneseo  cham- 
pagne basket  with  specimens  and  send  it  by  Beattey,  agent 
of  Boston  packet  office,  will  you  learn  from  him  whether 
he  sent  off  the  seven  packages  which  I  left  at  his  office  one 
evening  in  charge  of  his  men  after  he  had  gone.  Address 
the  other  packet  to  me,  care  of  William  Booth,  Esq.,  Bow- 
doin  Square,  Boston. 

We  have  been  to  Bristol  and  much  pleased  with  Vanuxem's 
museum,  and  with  that  portion  of  the  hall  which  connects 
him  with  the  geological,  and  not  the  theological  corps.  He 
seems  well  inclined  to  adopt  the  terms  Ontario,  Niagara  and 
Mohawk  groups,  and  with  a  little  persuasion  perhaps  will 
name  everything  from  Tully  limestone  down  to  Manlius 


116  JAMES  HALL 

shale  Ludlowville.  He  now  calls  the  Protean  group  the 
Clinton.  I  am  glad  to  find  Conrad  think  that  P.  laevis  is 
the  young  of  Pentamerus  oblongus.  From  what  I  hear,  I 
begin  really  to  think  that  those  six  feet  of  Oriskany  sand- 
stone at  Schoharie  expand  into  seven  hundred  feet  in  Penn- 
sylvania. Vanuxem  and  Conrad  are  much  surprised  at  the 
idea  of  the  Schoharie  coralline  limestone  being  the  Schoharie, 
but  if  so  V.  thinks  that  the  Pyritous  shales  must  be  his 
Clinton  ferruginous.  *  *  *. 

Ever  most  truly 

CHA.  LYELL 

The  following  letter,  written  several  months 
later,  shows  his  continuing  interest  in  New  York 
affairs  and  evinces  his  earnest  purpose  to  be  fair 
to  all  parties  concerned  in  its  geological  problems, 
though  it  refers  to  some  other  matters  of  which 
we  must  presently  take  account: 

MY  DEAR  HALL  : 

I  was  glad  to  hear  from  you  again  and  if  I  had  time 
could  give  you  a  good  account  of  my  Southern  explorings 
in  the  newer  formations.  I  saw  all  the  bluffs  on  the 
Savannah  River  between  the  falls  at  Augusta  and  the  sea, 
some  parts  of  the  interior  of  Georgia,  50  miles  of  the 
Santee  R.,  S.  Ca.,  the  Wilmington  district,  N.  C.,  the 
neighborhood  of  Petersburg  and  Richmond,  Va.,  the  terti- 
aries  of  the  James  River  from  Richmond  to  Williamsburg. 
My  previous  visits  to  the  cretaceous  formations  of  New 
Jersey  were  most  useful. 

Many  thanks  for  your  copy  of  your  paper  in  Silliman 
which  I  have  heard  spoken  of  favorably  both  in  Virginia 


L YELL  TO  HALL  117 

and  here.  I  am  very  glad  you  came  out  with  it.  Conrad 
admits  its  merit  though  he  is  disposed  to  give  some  criti- 
cisms, one  of  which  is  that  the  Catenipora  has  been  found 
by  him  in  the  Protean  of  Wayne  County  below  the 
Pentamerus  oblongus,  as  also  in  the  Moscow  beds. 

I  do  not  like  to  volunteer  the  communication  of  my 
individual  opinion  on  the  New  York  or  any  other  Survey, 
as  it  would  be  putting  myself  too  much  forward.  When 
appealed  to  I  have  always  been  glad  to  eulogize  what  I 
think  so  well  done.  I  will  not  use  your  map  without  a 
previous  understanding  with  Vanuxem  and  Conrad  who 
after  proper  explanation  will  approve  of  what  we  did  at 
Boston. 

You  remember  that  I  read  over  to  you  a  brief  historical 
notice  of  what  Rogers,  Bakewell,  Jun.,  Conrad  and  yourself 
had  successively  determined  in  the  Niagara  district,  which 
you  approved  of,  but  I  had  entirely  omitted  all  mention  of 
Eaton.  On  my  arrival  here,  before  going  south,  Eaton's 
book  on  the  Van  Rensselaer  canal  was  put  into  my  hand 
and  I  was  quite  astonished  on  looking  at  the  Section  of  the 
rocks  at  the  Falls  to  see  how  correctly  the  formations  were 
represented  with  their  southerly  dip,  well  grouped,  showing 
the  entire  independence  of  the  escarpment  on  any  fault  and 
referring  in  the  text,  the  lower  Ontario  Sandstone,  which 
I  think  he  calls  Saliferous,  to  the  same  age  as  the  Sand- 
stone of  Medina,  showing  that  he  knew  of  its  extension  east- 
ward. From  the  blundering  way  in  which  Mr.  Ingraham 
had  introduced  into  his  Section  what  he  represents  as 
Eaton's  views,  I  had  no  notion  that  the  old  veteran  had  got 
so  far  at  so  early  a  period.  I  had  just  time  to  write  a  letter 
which  would  arrive  in  London  at  the  same  time  as  my 
paper  in  which  I  gave  for  insertion  a  sentence  or  two  about 
Eaton  who  has  correctly  represented  all  from  the  Rapids 
to  Lewiston. 


118  JAMES  HALL 

As  to  what  they  are  going  to  do  in  Canada  I  have  heard 
nothing  and  am  too  fully  occupied  with  other  plans  to  care 
much  about  inquiring.  I  have  no  reason  to  suppose  it 
would  be  offered  to  me,  nor  if  it  were  am  I  sure  that  I 
should  best  promote  the  good  cause  by  undertaking  it  in 
preference  to  projected  operations.  It  will  be  time  enough 
to  think  of  this  when  I  am  invited.4  *  *  *. 
Believe  me,  dear  Hall, 

Ever  most  ty  yrs 

CHA.  LYELL 

The  new-found  friends  had  not  yet  seen  the  last 
of  each  other  on  this  first  American  visit  by  Lyell. 
Mr.  Lyell  pursued  his  geological  tour  from  Albany 
to  Philadelphia,  into  the  Appalachians  of  Penn- 
sylvania under  Professor  Rogers's  guidance, 
returned  to  Boston  in  October  to  give  the  Lowell 
Institute  lectures,  for  which  purpose  he  had  really 
come  out  from  England.  Hall  went  over  to  Boston 
to  hear  these;  and  among  the  letters  of  this  junc- 
ture is  one  from  Professor  Silliman  asking  Hall 

4  This  intimation  that  Lyell  was  by  any  one  or  in  any  way 
being  considered  for  the  directorship  of  the  proposed  Geological 
Survey  of  Canada  does  not,  so  far  as  I  know,  appear  in  any  other 
record.  Just  at  this  time  the  leaven  of  this  organization  was  work- 
ing, William  Edmond  Logan  was  its  projector  and  his  was  the  only 
name  that  seems .  to  have  been  mentioned  in  connection  with  its 
directorship.  By  chance  or  purpose  Logan,  with  his  pet  turtle  in 
his  pocket,  was  at  the  Astor  House  in  New  York  when  Lyell 
arrived,  and  Lyell  was  pleased  to  receive  him  when  he  called  to 
pay  his  respects,  but  no  reference  is  made  to  this  intimation  of 
Lyell's  in  Harrington's  "Life  of  Sir  William  Logan,"  nor  in  any 
of  Mr.  Lyell's  own  books. 


IN   THE   TACONIC  MTS.  119 

to  send  him  on  some  notes  of  the  Boston  lectures  as 
he  wishes  to  use  them  for  two  lectures  he  was  about 
to  give  at  the  New  York  Mercantile  Library.  The 
letter  is  stamped  in  red  wax  with  a  seal  bearing 
the  legend  Audacem  favet  fortuna! 

After  the  Lowell  Institute,  Lyell  was  free  to 
lecture  elsewhere  and  did  so;  and  there  were  lec- 
tures scheduled  for  Philadelphia  and  New  York, 
but  not  until  he  had  spent  the  winter  in  excursions 
through  the  south  as  far  as  South  Carolina.  Com- 
ing back  north  in  March  for  these  engagements, 
he  returns  to  Boston  by  way  of  the  city  of  Hudson 
in  order  to  cross  over  into  the  Taconic  mountains, 
the  seat  of  much  geological  and  spiritual  distur- 
bance, for  here  lay  the  extensive  sections  which 
Doctor  Emmons  regarded  as  exposing  his  Taconic 
System,  the  lowest  term  in  the  life-bearing  series 
of  rocks.  The  opposing  contentions  assumed  by 
Professors  Hitchcock  and  Henry  D.  Rogers  were 
that  the  entire  Taconic  series  here  was  composed  of 
altered  or  metamorphosed  sediments  of  no  earlier 
age  than  the  low  term  in  the  New  York  series,  the 
Potsdam  sandstone.  Hall  and  the  other  New  York 
men  had  taken  no  active  part  in  contesting 
Emmons's  claims,  doubtless  being  governed  by  a 
feeling  of  delicacy  and  a  conviction  that  they  must 
make  no  outward  show  of  disagreement.  They  had 
wanted  Lyell  to  see  the  Taconic  rocks  and  draw 
his  own  conclusions  therefrom,  and  after  examin- 


120  JAMES  HALL 

ing  these  western  Massachusetts  sections,  he 
expressed  the  opinion  that  the  "  claim  of  this 
Taconic  Group  "  "  seems  very  questionable."  It 
was  an  impersonal  judgment  based  upon  one  of 
Emmons's  secondary  or  accessory  sections;  the 
typical  sections  in  Washington  County,  N.  Y.,  he 
had  not  yet  seen. 

Lyell's  lectures  were  causing  Hall  the  greatest 
concern.  The  visitor  had  borrowed  Hall's  great 
"  Geological  Map  of  New  York  and  the  Middle 
States,"  prepared  with  vast  pains  and  showing  the 
latest  stage  of  geological  knowledge,  and  he  had 
publicly  exhibited  it  two  years  before  it  was 
printed,  though  with  Hall's  consent,  how  reluctantly 
given  we  can  guess.  He  had  chosen  as  the  subject 
of  one  of  his  lectures,  "  The  Recession  of  Niagara 
Falls,"  and  had  got  all  that  Hall  knew  on  that  sub- 
ject both  by  way  of  maps  and  of  geology.  Indeed, 
in  his  good  will  Mr.  Hall  really  divested  himself. 
It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  it  showed  quick  grasp 
and  a  cool  spirit  for  Lyell,  under  such  circum- 
stances, to  plunge  into  a  public  lecture  on  Niagara 
Falls  before  a  great  New  York  audience  assembled 
in  the  "  Tabernacle."  And  we  may  imagine  the 
mixed  thrills  with  which  Hall  read  the  account  of 
this  lecture  in  the  New  York  Tribune  as  reported 
by  no  less  a  personage  than  Henry  J.  Raymond, 
then  the  assistant  editor. 


TROUBLE     AT  BOSTON  121 

The  lectures  over,  everybody  went  on  to  Boston 
for  the  meeting  of  the  Association  of  American 
Geologists  in  April  (1843);  a  splendid  array  of 
men  gathered  especially  because  of  the  presence 
of  Lyell.  The  word  had  passed  that  Lyell  was 
about  to  assimilate  his  American  observations, 
derived  now  from  many  quarters,  into  a  new 
edition  of  his  "  Elements,"  which  would  thus  at 
once  become  an  American  text-book  of  the  science. 
We  may  well  believe  that  more  than  one  American 
geologist  had  become  nervous  over  Lyell's  omni- 
vorous annotations  and  the  themes  of  his  public 
lectures,  for  he  was  now  possessed  of  their  data, 
published  and  unpublished.  Over  this  whole  mat- 
ter Hall  had  long  been  perturbed  and  out  of  this 
feeling  arose  an  incident  so  absolutely  character- 
istic of  him;  his  warm  and  innocent  receptiveness, 
hospitable  largesse  with  his  store  of  knowledge, 
followed  by  quick  suspicions  alarmed  usually  by 
irresponsible  rumors;  then  too  often  the  action, 
the  regret,  the  remorse  —  that  it  is  worth  the  tell- 
ing not  only  because  it  has  an  historical  interest 
but  also  because  the  end  was  all  well. 

When  Hall  came  down  to  the  Lowell  lectures  he 
spent  six  weeks  in  Boston  studying  Lyell's  Euro- 
pean fossils  and  making  comparisons  with  his 
own.  His  many  Boston  friends,  it  would  seem, 
expressed  some  wonder  that  he  should  have 
entrusted  so  much  of  his  unpublished  materials  to 


122  JAMES  HALL 

a  stranger  whose  very  acquisitiveness  they  thought 
should  put  one  on  guard.  Greatly  upset  at  the 
thought  that  his  unpublished  reports  were  in  dan- 
ger of  being  rifled,  Hall  hunted  up  George  B. 
Emerson,  whose  influence  in  Boston  scientific  cir- 
cles was  then  commanding,  talked  over  the  situa- 
tion with  him,  and  asked  him  to  see  Mr.  Lowell 
and  the  other  sponsors  for  Mr.  Lyell.  Then,  when 
he  got  back  to  Albany,  he  wrote  a  protest  against 
Lyell's  "  intrusion  "  into  American  geology,  sent 
it  to  Emerson,  who  fixed  it  up  for  him  and  had  it 
printed  in  the  Boston  Mercantile  Journal.  It  was 
hastily  done,  made  a  great  commotion  in  Boston, 
though  beyond  any  question  it  was  approved  by 
many  of  the  geologists  who  were  much  in  the  same 
strait  as  Hall. 

The  Boston  waters  were  troubled  for  a  whole 
season.  Mr.  Lyell  went  off  south,  but  the  printed 
article  had  gone  abroad,  and  Hall  was  hearing 
from  many  of  the  geologists  rather  approving 
words,  from  Professor  Silliman,  particularly.  Im- 
pulsively and  perhaps  unwisely,  Hall  wrote  to  Mr. 
John  Lowell  something  of  Silliman's  views,  and  in 
April,  just  before  the  geologists  meeting,  he  gets 
an  intimation  from  his  confidential  friend  and 
adviser,  Augustus  A.  Gould,  that  he  has  stirred 
things  up.  Gould  writes: 

"  Mr.  S.  of  the  City  of  Elms  left  us  today  and  it  seems 
that  Lowell  communicated  to  him  the  substance  of  the  letter 


THE  BOSTON  EPISODE  123 

you  wrote.  Young  Ben  is  all  in  a  foam  about  it  today  and 
thinks  you  succeeded  in  getting  a  coolness  between  Father 
and  Mr.  L.  I  should  not  be  surprised  if  you  should  get 
your  nose  pulled  again;  so  look  out.  What  induced 
Mr.  Lowell  to  raise  the  dust  again  I  cannot  tell." 

There  was  a  veritable  tempest  in  the  Boston  tea- 
pot, and  it  boiled  away  for  weeks  until  Gould  wrote 
demanding  to  know  just  what  Professor  Silliman 
had  written  to  Hall  about  Lyell. 

"The  most  important  thing  of  all,"  he  says  (Boston, 
July  20,  1842),  "  is  that  you  should  comply  with  my  request 
and  send  me  the  extract  from  Silliman's  letter  —  to  give 
me  as  much  of  the  context  as  will  prove  to  measure  the  force 
of  his  expressions  exactly.  The  rumor  of  this  letter  has 
got  to  the  ears  of  Prof.  Ticknor,  Mr.  Lyell,  and  Mr.  Lowell, 
with  the  addition  that  I  had  seen  the  letter,  and  I  fortunately 
escaped  having  Mr.  Lowell  make  use  of  it  in  an  inconvenient 
way.  It  happens  that  Prof.  S.  has  taxed  Mr.  Lowell's 
endurance  a  little  too  much.  This  however  must  not  go 
from  you.  Mr.  Lyell  too,  has  his  eyes  opened.  He  spent 
two  mornings  with  me  and  went  over  the  whole  ground  of 
your  difficulty  and  some  other  difficulties.  I  will  not  re- 
count, but  suffice  it  to  say  that  he  now  considers  you  the 
dupe  rather  than  the  knave.  I  repeat  it,  I  must  know  the 
gist  of  the  letter  in  question  or  the  burden  which  belongs 
on  other  shoulders  may  chance  to  be  transferred  to  mine." 

Yrs  truly  &  in  haste 

A.  A.  GOULD. 

This  was  not  the  first  demand  Gould  had  made 
for  Silliman's  letter,  but  Hall  had  resisted  till  now. 
Meanwhile  he  had  made  various  inquiries  regard- 


124  JAMES  HALL 

ing  Lyell's  intentions  of  publication;  he  wrote  to 
Dr.  John  Torrey  that  Lyell  had  promised  to  wait 
until  the  New  York  reports  were  out,  but  he  hears 
that  Wiley  &  Putnam  are  publishing  for  him;  to 
which  Torrey  answers  that  the  publication  matter 
was  not  yet  "  clearly  determined;"  that  "  Lyell  was 
much  hurt  by  the  articles  in  the  Boston  papers 
accusing  him  of  injustice  to  Mr.  Hall,"  and  says  of 
him,  "  He  [Lyell]  was  by  no  means  popular  in  New 
York.  Our  men,  of  course,  were  offended  by  his 
reserved,  cold  manner  and  his  indifference  to  the 
marked  attentions  that  were  offered  to  him.  His 
lectures  (except  the  illustrations)  did  not  give  sat- 
isfaction." Here  is  Hall's  reply  to  Gould's  request : 

ALBANY,  July  22,  1842. 
MY  DEAR  SIR  : 

In  regard  to  a  letter  of  Prof.  Silliman,  I  will  comply  with 
your  request  though  I  never  intended  to  do  so  till  now  and 
the  only  reason  that  I  do  is  to  prevent  your  suffering  in  any 
degree.  For  myself  I  would  not  now  say  one  word  nor  do 
a  thing  to  bring  the  whole  before  Lyell  as  it  is  and  was. 
He  will  know  the  truth  some  time  or  other.  If  I  live  over 
this  I  shall  not  sink  under  small  things,  and  if  I  sink  now 
1  am  worth  but  little. 

The  letter  in  question  perhaps  does  not  express  as  much 
as  you  understood  from  me.  His  conversation  with  me 
previously,  4th  &  5th  March  was  pointed  &  strong  —  and 
if  you  would  learn  his  opinions  at  that  time  perhaps  Dr. 
dotting  may  be  able  to  enlighten  you,  as  he  heard  some- 
thing of  it  afterwards. 


THE  BOSTON  EPISODE  125 

I  spoke  to  you  of  this  letter  of  Prof.  S.  as  expressing 
opinions  at  variance  with  those  he  expressed  to  Mr.  Lyell, 
viz,  that  there  would  not  be  the  slightest  impropriety  in 
publishing,  &c.  I  give  it  you  however  as  it  is.  I  had  in- 
formed Silliman  in  letter  that  we  had  heard  that  Lyell 
intended  publishing,  &c.  After  recommending  a  communica- 
tion with  Mr.  L.  on  the  subject  &  saying  he  is  too  busy  to 
answer  my  letter  fully  he  says :  "  I  have  confided  this 
matter  to  Mr.  Lowell  &  he  thinks  that  it  can  not  be  so.  You 
owe  it  to  yourself  and  to  all  American  geologists  and  to 
Mr.  Lyell  to  have  the  matter  put  at  rest,  otherwise  he  will 
be  placed  in  Coventry  and  will  be  an  unwelcome  guest  on 
the  25th  of  April  here.  By  all  means  see  him  without  delay 
and  let  me  hear  from  you." 

Perhaps  this  expresses  nothing  at  all,  but  taken  with  his 
conversation  with  me  it  seemed  to  me  at  least  that  he  did 
not  think  it  quite  proper  for  Lyell  to  publish,  as  that  was  the 
only  subject  alluded  to  in  my  letter.  His  conversation  of 
which  I  have  memoranda  was  of  a  very  decided  character, 
and  to  this  effect,  that  he  thought  on  the  whole  I  had  done 
wrong  to  give  Lyell  so  much  information  of  the  geology  of 
New  York  as  he  might  make  improper  use  of  it,  and  he 
would  find  it  hard  to  resist  the  temptation  to  do  so.  He 
advised  me  in  sending  him  specimens  as  I  had  promised 
to  annex  this  condition,  that  Mr.  Lyell  was  not  to  publish 
them  till  described  by  Conrad. 

I  did  not  anticipate  anything  of  this  kind  and  so  far  as 
myself  was  concerned,  considered  Mr.  Silliman's  letters  and 
conversation  as  sacred  after  I  had  time  to  reflect  upon  it. 
While  in  Boston  I  was  not  in  a  reflecting  mood,  and  indeed 
after  my  return  for  weeks,  as  B.  S.  Jr.  suggested,  that  I  was 
on  the  down  hill  road  and  should  get  a  kick  from  every  one. 
It  has  been  to  me  a  severe  lesson  but  it  has  learned  me  much 
and  I  trust  I  shall  profit  by  it.  I  wrote  Torrey  about  that 


126  JAMES  HALL 

time  for  his  source  of  information  but  he  only  answered  my 
letter  a  few  days  since.  Lyell  has  acted  so  much  more 
manly  toward  me  than  some  others  who  were  condemning 
him  so  severely  that  he  must  ever  have  my  highest  regard 
and  esteem.  I  must  acknowledge  that  I  was  proud  of  his 
friendship  and  anxious  to  retain  it,  but  when  from  every 
quarter  my  course  was  condemned  as  giving  to  a  foreigner 
the  results  of  my  labors  and  others  to  the  prejudice  of 
American  science  and  those  pursuing  it,  personal  considera- 
tions were  forgotten,  and  I  was  induced  to  act  as  I  did,  and 
as  I  then  thought  from  proper  and  patriotic  motives.  But 
I  have  been  judged  and  condemned  and  in  my  sentence 
others  may  see  the  fate  of  all  Knight-errants  in  modern 
times. 

Already  remorse  is  gnawing  furiously  through- 
out his  entire  justification,  for  justification  it  was 
and  as  a  justification  the  statement  was  received 
in  Boston.  Indeed,  it  seems  pretty  clear  that  this 
was  no  false  alarm  that  had  made  Hall  the  spokes- 
man for  his  fellows,  and  that  he  had  really  done  a 
service  equal  to  the  measure  of  his  dejection. 
Gould  writes  to  him  soon  again :  "  Keep  a  stiff 
upper  lip,  going  straight  ahead,  showing  no  resent- 
ment or  subserviency.  Mind  your  own  business 
and,  as  I  have  always  told  you,  there  will  be  a 
recoil  and  you  will  come  out  bright.  When  we  see 
Mr.  Lyell  here  again  nous  verrons" 

Of  all  this  matter  there  is  not  a  word  in  Lyell's 
letters  to  Hall.  He  does  not,  indeed,  visit  Albany 
again  on  this  tour,  but  he  writes  frequently,  even 


PLANS   FOR   A    TEXTBOOK        127 

after  he  had  reached  England,  and  on  his  return  in 
1845,  bringing  his  "  Travels  in  North  America  " 
with  him.  his  first  letter  is  to  Hall,  and  his  first 
inquiry  of  the  Boston  men  whether  Hall  is  satis- 
fied with  the  notice  he  received  in  this  book.  Terms 
of  intimacy  in  Albany  are  re-established  between 
them,  and  presently  Mrs.  Hall  inscribes  her  vol- 
ume of  "  Poems  "  to  Lady  Lyell. 

There  is  many  a  touch  of  the  humorous  in  the 
impulses  back  of  Hall's  desires.  This  contact  with 
Lyell  and  the  apprehension  over  the  suggested 
text-book  of  American  Geology  seemed  to  impress 
Hall  with  the  conviction  that  he  was  himself 
divinely  appointed  to  that  very  work.  He  writes 
to  his  friend  George  B.  Emerson  that  he  had  long 
cherished  the  purpose  to  prepare  a  text-book  of 
Geology  for  American  Schools  by  an  American; 
and  could  Emerson  get  it  into  the  Massachusetts 
schools?  Emerson  tells  Hall  he  doubts  his  ability 
to  produce  a  successful  book  for  students  and 
advises  him  to  stick  to  his  fossils.  Augustus  Gould 
approved  the  idea  — 

"  Don't  be  behind  in  that,"  he  writes  (September  30, 
1842).  "  There  are  Wiley  ones  who  will  circumvent  you  if 
possible,  and  Harpies  who  will  pounce  upon  everything 
unawares.  You  can  do  a  thing  which  will  displace  every- 
thing elementary  in  the  country,  aye,  in  the  world,  and  make 
your  fortune  to  a  certainty.  Use  all  diligence  else  others 
with  nimbler  pens  will  gain  the  prize." 


128  JAMES  HALL 

His  friend  Kendall,  a  member  of  a  printing 
house,  applauded  loud  and  long.  No  letter  from 
Kendall  fails  to  urge  the  matter,  and  soon  Hall 
has  Gould,  Kendall  &  Lincoln,  Wiley  &  Putnam, 
and  the  Harpers,  all  bidding  on  this  vague  proposi- 
tion. I  can  not  find  a  scrap  of  writing  which 
intimates  that  Hall  had  ever  so  much  as  drawn  up 
a  plan  for  his  book,  except  about  so-and-so  many 
pages  illustrated  by  pictures  of  New  York  scenery 
and  fossils.  He  kept  the  project  alive  for  years, 
and  while  he  got  no  nearer  to  it,  he  would  not  let 
it  get  away  from  him.  The  exasperated  Kendall 
berated  him  without  ceasing  for  his  procrastina- 
tions ;  but  Hall  had  preempted  the  field  and  posted 
his  caveat.  Now  let  any  one  else  enter  at  his  peril. 
Just  such  procedure  as  this,  grew  to  be,  in  his 
scientific  work,  a  constant  practise.  In  Palae- 
ontology, where  he  was  not  lord  by  possession  he 
was  master  by  preemption  —  as  his  would-be  com- 
petitors discovered. 

The  "  Text-book  "  was  never  written.  For  ten 
years  the  plan  slept  in  his  pigeon  holes,  until 
Emmons  stole  in  on  his  preserves,  got  possession 
of  Hall's  own  woodcuts,  and  came  out  with  his 
Manual  of  .Geology  (1850).  From  that  time  on 
Hall  ceased  to  be  interested  in  popular  education 
in  book  form.  We  shall  presently  see  that  when  the 
suggestion  came,  this  interest  revived  in  different 
expression. 


LY ELL'S  TRAVELS  129 

Mr.  Lyell,  we  have  said,  would  not  come  back  to 
Albany  on  this  first  visit,  though  Hall  sent  him 
an  urgent  invitation  to  do  so.  He  circumscribed 
an  amazing  circle  about  it :  "  by  Harpers  Ferry, 
Forestburg,  the  Monongahela,  Pittsburgh,  Wheel- 
ing, Marietta,  Pomeroy,  Cincinnati,  Big  Bonelick, 
Lebanon,  Columbus,  Cleveland,  Dunkirk,  Fre- 
donia,  Buffalo,  Niagara  [without  Hall  this  time!], 
Toronto,  Kingston,  Gananoque,  Montreal,  Quebec, 
Beauport,  Three  Rivers,  Lake  Champlain,  Keese- 
ville,  Burlington,  Green  Mountains,  Montpelier, 
Hanover,  Concord,  Nashua,  Lowell,  Boston;"  and 
he  had  still  a  month  before  him  for  Halifax,  Pic- 
tou  and  the  Joggins.  He  had  come  into  personal 
contact  with  nearly  every  active  geologist  in  the 
country,  he  had  given  freely  of  his  large  experience 
and  made  friends  everywhere  in  spite  of  their 
alarms,  and  he  evidently  carried  away  with  him 
a  high  regard  for  his  American  colleagues. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  PALAEONTOLOGY  OF  NEW  YORK 
THE  PERIOD  OF  VOLUME  1—1843-1847 

1 

Beginnings  —  Legislation  —  Hall's  arrangements  with  Em- 
mons  — Appointment  as  Palaeontologist  —  Proposal  to 
Conrad  and  Gould  —  Changes  in  scope  of  work  —  Meet- 
ing of  the  Geologists  in  Albany,  1843  —  In  Washington, 
1844 — Trouble  with  the  National  Institution  —  Hall 
seeks  Secretaryship  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution  — 
Visits  Lake  Superior  —  Lyell's  second  visit  —  Joins 
Hall  and  Emmons  to  visit  Taconic  Sections  in  New 
York  —  Hall's  interests  in  horticulture ;  in  collections ; 
in  Castoroides  —  Invited  to  Alabama  University. 

THE  title  of  this  chapter  is  the  caption,  the 
dominant  note,  of  all  the  long  remaining 
years  of  Professor  Hall's  life. 
In  any  extraordinary  undertaking,  next  in  order 
of  interest  to  its  outcome,  are  its  beginnings,  the 
struggle  that  got  it  afoot  and  on  its  way.     The 
Palaeontology  of  New  York  was  an  extraordinary 
undertaking;  rarely  had  a  work  of  its  scope  or 
magnitude  ever  been  projected  and  its  achievement 
ran  far  beyond  the  bounds  of  its  author's  vision  or 
most  audacious  hopes.     To-day  its  thirteen  great 
quarto  volumes,  with  innumerable  accessory  trea- 
tises, stand  an  unparalled  monument  in  the  science, 
[130] 


VAST  MATERIAL  131 

and  if  ever  surpassed  in  bulk,  certainly  not  in 
orderliness,  lucidity  and  completeness. 

The  inauguration  and  creation  of  such  a  stu- 
pendous work  demanded  a  man  of  indomitable 
enthusiasm,  intense  convictions,  fervent  loyalty  and 
a  courage  verging  on  temerity.  Hall  was  that  man 
and  his  beginnings  of  the  work  are  therefore  of 
inviting  concern. 

Hall  had  abandoned  his  cherished  plan  of  going 
to  California  on  a  Government  mission;  Lyell  had 
gone  home  and  the  final  reports  of  the  geologists 
were  out.  But  the  rocks  of  New  York  were 
crowded  with  still  unchristened  fossils;  Hall's 
Fourth  District  was  carpeted  with  them;  his  west- 
ern tour  of  four  thousand  miles  was  through 
gardens  of  them  lying  about  him  nameless,  like  the 
plants  of  Hingham.  Conrad  had  thrown  up  his 
hands  in  dismay  as  the  four  geologists  turned  in 
upon  him  their  accumulations  of  fossils  for  his 
determinations.  Thus  the  survey  was  over  but 
the  fossils  were  mostly  untouched,  and  there  was 
besides,  a  vast  collection  of  geological  material 
which  had  been  sent  in  by  the  members  of  the  staff 
and  stored  away  in  the  geological  rooms  at  the 
corner  of  Hudson  and  South  Market  streets. 
Mather  had  gone  back  to  Ohio,  Vanuxem  had 
retired  to  his  home  in  Bristol,  Pa.,  Hall  and  Em- 
mons  remained  in  Albany  and  both  wanted  to  con- 
tinue the  work  in  Palaeontology.  The  need  of  this 


132  JAMES  HALL 

supplementary  work  was  recognized  by  the  friends 
of  the  Survey  and  the  fresh  series  of  sumptuous 
volumes  made  the  introduction  and  passage  of  the 
necessary  legislative  provision  an  easy  matter.  It 
was  a  bill  authorizing  Governor  Bouck  to  appoint 
the  proper  men  to  take  charge  of  the  Palaeontology 
and  of  the  collections  and  collection  rooms,  the 
nucleus  of  the  State  Museum.  Hall  writes  to 
Gould  (March,  1843): 

"  The  bill  will  be  passed  before  you  get  this.  *  *  * 
Dr.  Emmons  has  been  endeavoring  to  obtain  the  last  office 
[custodianship]  for  more  than  a  year  and  has  the  recom- 
mendations of  all  concerned  in  the  Survey  to  that  effect.  I 
have  given  up  this  to  him  more  than  six  months  since, 
though  he  had  previously  promised  me  his  influence  to  obtain 
it.  But  this  is  only  incidental.  Now  that  there  is  an 
opportunity  of  going  on  with  this  work  on  fossils  /  want  to 
have  it  in  my  charge  and  if  necessary  wish  to  be  fortified." 

Then  he  asks  for  the  endorsement  of  the  Boston 
men,  Gould,  Emerson,  Doctor  Cotting  *  and  Jack- 
son; Rogers  had  already  promised  his  approval. 
"  I  have  been  close  at  work  "  says  Hall,  "  for  the 
last  year  almost  entirely  at  these  things  and  have 
now  between  300  and  400  species  figured."  Per- 
haps nothing  could  show  more  clearly  his  definite 
intention  to  have  this  work  than  this  last  statement. 


1  Dr.  John  R.  Cotting  was  one  of  the  older  members  of  the  Bos- 
ton scientific  circle.  He  had  very  practical  experience  in  geology, 
having  undertaken  to  carry  on  an  agricultural  and  geological  survey 
of  Georgia  in  1836. 


EMMONS'S  AMBITION  133 

Forty-nine  years  afterward  Hall  himself  told  the 
story  of  the  denouement  in  these  words : 

"  Emmons  was  here  drawing  pay  as  geologist  and  agri- 
culturist as  well  as  Professor  of  Chemistry  in  the  Medical 
College.  From  some  cause  there  was  a  growing  disaffection 
toward  him  in  the  college  at  about  the  time  our  geological 
reports  were  completed.  T.  Romeyn  Beck  who  was  running 
that  institution,  running  everything  then,  got  him  trans- 
ferred from  that  position  to  the  chair  of  Obstetrics  greatly 
against  Emmons's  wish,  who  felt  the  position  to  be  not  so 
honorable  a  one,  but  Beck  wanted  the  chair  of  Chemistry 
for  his  brother  Lewis  C,  and  though  Emmons  had  friends 
in  Dr.  March  and  Dr.  Armsby,  they  could  not  nullify  Beck's 
wishes.  This  seemed  to  be  the  beginning  of  his  disquietude. 
After  our  reports  were  in  and  printing  he  said  to  me:  '  Now 
here's  a  good  place  for  you  in  charge  of  the  museum  in  the 
State  Hall,'  which  was  being  prepared  for  their  reception,2 
'  and  I'll  do  what  I  can  to  help  you  do  it.'  He  had  a  good 
salary  besides  his  agricultural  work  and  I  had  nothing.  He 
had  many  influential  friends  and  I  had  but  few.  It  very 
shortly  turned  out  that  Emmons  had  been  to  Governor 
Bouck  with  his  friends  on  his  own  behalf,  and  that  on  their 
representation  the  Governor  had  expressed  the  intention  of 
putting  the  museum  in  charge  of  Emmons,  he  agreeing  to 
prepare  and  have  in  readiness  a  report  on  the  palaeontology 
and  agriculture  within  one  year.  When  I  heard  of  this  I 
went  to  Emmons  and  he  said  to  me.  '  I'll  look  out  for 


1  The  "  State  Hall "  of  that  time,  also  known  as  the  "  Old  Capi- 
tol "  was  made  over,  in  1855-6,  into  the  "  Geological  and  Agricul- 
tural Hall,"  at  the  corner  of  State  and  Lodge  streets.  The  "  State 
Hall"  of  after  years,  from  1886  to  1912  the  office  of  the  State 
Geologist,  is  now  the  Court  of  Appeals  Building  at  the  corner  of 
Eagle  and  Pine  streets. 


134  JAMES  HALL 

you ;  you'll  be  all  right.'  '  But '  said  I,  '  I  won't  take  any- 
thing of  that  sort  and  we'll  have  this  matter  settled 
immediately.' 

I  remember  that  this  all  happened  the  day  before  the  meet- 
ing in  Albany  of  the  American  Association  of  Geologists 
and  Naturalists,  which  was  to  be  held  in  the  State  Hall. 
It  was  in  April,  1843.  That  night  I  walked  the  streets  of 
Albany.  I  did  not  go  to  bed  but  sat  up  trying  to  think 
of  some  way  to  save  myself.  Early  in  the  morning  as  I 
was  at  work  in  the  museum  in  came  George  B.  Emerson 
of  Boston,  President  of  the  Boston  Society,  who  had  come  to 
attend  the  meeting.  *  Hall,  what's  the  matter  ? '  said 
he.  '  You  are  not  looking  well.'  It  did  not  need  much 
encouragement  for  me  to  tell  him  the  whole  story,  and  when 
I  had  finished,  he  said  *  Well,  I  don't  know  as  I  can  do  much 
to  help  you.  Dr.  Emmons's  relations  to  me  are  not  pleasant 
and  I  can  not  see  him.'  He  then  went  on  to  tell  me  how  he, 
as  one  of  the  Commissioners  of  the  Natural  History  Survey 
of  Massachusetts,  had  engaged  Emmons  to  prepare  a 
report  and  that  when  Emmons  had  sent  in  his  manuscript 
Emerson  had  found  good  reason  to  return  it  and  that  he  had 
held  no  intercourse  with  him  since.  While  he  was  talking,  in 
came  Professor  Potter  of  Schenectady,  afterward  Bishop 
Potter  of  Philadelphia,  and  to  him  the  story  was  told.  Pretty 
soon  they  two  started  up  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  Sam 
Young's  office.  Then  I  saw  the  three  walking  up  Washing- 
ton avenue  to  Governor  Bouck's  house,  then  owned  by  Gen- 
eral John  A.  Dix  [Dr.  Elting's  house].  It  was  not  long 
after  that  I  received  my  commission  from  Governor  Bouck 
to  prepare  the  Palaeontology." 

This  is  the  story  as  he  told  it,  but  still  it  lacks 
something  of  essential  detail.  Governor  Bouck 
was  from  "  Old  Schoharie,"  a  stronghold  of  the 


HALL'S  APPOINTMENT  135 

Whig-Democrats  ever  since  its  emergence  from  the 
sea.  John  Gebhard,  Junior,  was  of  the  Schoharie 
fold  and  he  not  only  wanted  the  curatorship  but 
he  had  earned  the  right  to  go  to  his  neighbor,  the 
Governor,  and  ask  for  it.  He  did  so  and  got  the 
promise  of  it.  So  much  at  least  was  secure  before 
any  of  the  appointments  were  made  and  meanwhile 
Hall  begged  Gebhard  to  see  the  Governor  on  his 
behalf  —  which  he  did  evidently  to  some  effect. 
And  so  Gebhard  was  made  Curator ;  Emmons, 
Agriculturist  and  Hall,  Palaeontologist.  Agricul- 
ture had  not  been  included  in  the  plan  of  the 
original  Survey  and  thus  Doctor  Emmons  had  3 
broad  field  and  a  free  hand.  It  is  not  difficult  to 
conceive  the  sensations  with  which  Hall  saw  Em- 
mons assigned  to  a  pasture  so  remote  from  his 
own,  nor  perhaps  his  later  sensations  when  Em- 
mons's  first  volume  on  the  Agriculture  appeared 
with  its  opening  chapter  given  up  to  a  lengthy 
account  of  the  cloud-capped  "  Taconic  System." 

Hall  had  now  come  into  his  own ;  he  was  thirty- 
two  years  old  and  had  all  his  heart's  desire.  He  is 
delighted;  his  friends  are  delighted.  Henry  D. 
Rogers  sends  word  that  there  could  not  be  a  better 
appointment;  that  he  had  already  shown  himself 
the  most  expert  American  Palaeontologist.  The 
versatile  Haldeman  writes :  "  I  feel  very  confident 
that  you  will  be  more  likely  to  do  the  subject  justice 
than  any  other  person  connected  with  your  Sur- 


136  JAMES  HALL 

vey."  Lyell  sends  word  from  No.  16  Hartley 
street  of  his  "unmixed  satisfaction;"  Emerson 
warns  him  "  to  stick  to  his  agreement  with  Em- 
mons ;  "  and  the  sprightly  and  effervescent  Gould 
cries  out :  "  Hurrah  for  Palaeontology  !  What  a 
glorious  chance  you  have  if  you  can  ever  accom- 
plish your  work  without  quarreling!  Benjamin 
Silliman,  in  sending  his  good  wishes,  speaks  of 
Hall's  Fourth  District  report  as  a  "  great  national 
work,"  and  this  expression  may  be  taken  as  a 
veritable  intimation  of  the  esteem  in  which  Hall 
was  now  held  by  his  colleagues.  His  high  stand- 
ing was  established  and  more  than  that,  he  stood 
forth  as  the  representative  of  a  State  that  was 
priding  itself  on  its  patronage  of  science.  Alcide 
D'Orbigny,  the  leader  of  the  French  geologists, 
had  written  to  him : 

"  I  need  not  express  to  you,  sir,  the  pleasure  I  have  expe- 
rienced in  receiving  your  important  publication  on  the  State 
of  New  York.  You  do  in  America  much  better  than  is 
done  in  Europe.  Your  governors  comprehend  their  inter- 
ests and  the  honor  of  the  nation  and  you  give  us  a  lesson 
which  we  should  learn  if  politics  did  not  absorb  all  our 
statesmen.  The  important  publications  which  you  make  at 
the  expense  of  the  nation,  are  here  supported  by  private 
individuals,  which  augments  the  difficulties  to  be  sur- 
mounted and  requires  more  union  among  those  who  are 
occupied  with  the  same  subject." 

Mr.  Hall  had  now  entered  into  an  undertaking 
to  prepare  a  report  in  one  volume  on  the  fossils 


"  LOWER  STRATA  "  137 

of  the  New  York  Formations  and  to  have  it  done 
in  one  year.  I  think  to  get  the  work  afoot  he  would 
have  assented  to  almost  any  promise  that  did  not 
wholly  eliminate  his  refugium,  his  Deo  volente, 
which  was  a  religious  reservation  on  all  his  agree- 
ments for  a  half  century.  Forthwith  he  reaches 
out  for  assistance.  He  sends  Conrad  an  invitation 
to  join  him  in  one  phase  of  his  work,  the  bivalved 
Mollusca,  and  when  Conrad  declines  he  writes 
Gould  to  take  over  all  the  Mollusca.  Doctor  Gould 
was  highly  expert  in  recent  conchology  but  he 
stood  in  some  dread  of  imperfectly  preserved  fos- 
sils and  though  the  proposal  tempted  him,  Hall 
hardly  waited  for  him  to  decline  before  he  was  into 
them  himself.  At  once  he  began  the  collection  of 
new  materials  from  every  part  of  the  State  and 
from  all  its  formations,  and  by  the  end  of  the  year 
he  had  swamped  himself ;  he  was  buried  under  the 
organic  remains  of  all  the  palaeozoic  seas  and  his 
report  "  in  one  volume  in  one  year  "  was  buried 
with  him.  Meanwhile  Silas  Wright  had  become 
governor  and  as  the  promise  to  Governor  Bouck 
could  not  be,  in  the  eye  of  science,  fully  met,  Hall 
divested  himself  of  his  unredeemable  concessions 
and  proceeded  to  give  his  attention  wholly  to  the 
fossil  faunas  of  the  "  Lower  Strata." 

This,  then,  was  the  theme  of  Palaeontology  I, 
and  with  it  he  proceeded  with  entire  deliberation, 
feeling  his  way  at  every  step  of  this  virgin  adven- 


138  JAMES  HALL 

ture.  He  sought  and  acquired  material  from  every 
quarter,  mostly  at  his  own  expense;  he  established 
his  species  with  keen  circumspection  and  he  sought 
the  best  efforts  in  depicting  his  fossils  both  in 
drawing  and  lithograph.  And  in  all  of  these  he 
succeeded,  for  he  described  from  these  "  Lower 
Strata  " —  the  Potsdam  Sandstone,  Calcif  erous 
and  Chazy  limestones,  the  Trenton  series  (Birds- 
eye,  Black  River,  Trenton  limestones),  the  Utica 
and  "  Hudson  River  "  shales  —  381  species  where 
but  70  had  been  before  known;  his  plates  of  litho- 
graphed illustrations,  90  in  number  and  drawn  by 
Mrs.  Hall,  called  forth  much  praise  from  his  critics 
and  his  work  entire  embraced  what  are  still  recog- 
nized as  the  body  of  the  typical  or  guide  fossils  of 
the  formations  to  which  they  belong.  In  the  face  of 
his  altered  plans  he  went  to  the  legislature  of  1845 
and  told  them  he  had  spent  all  his  money  and 
needed  more,  and  they  gave  it.  In  1847  the  book 
was  done  and  printed  and  instead  of  The  Palaeon- 
tology of  New  York  in  one  volume  in  one  year  he 
gave  to  Governor  Wright,  after  four  years,  the 
first  of  thirteen  quarto  volumes  with  many  hun- 
dreds of  plates  and  thousands  of  pages. 

As  far  back  as  1842,  before  even  this  work  had 
been  provided  for,  or  the  field  had  been  divided  be- 
tween himself  and  his  older  competitor  Emmons, 
Hall  had  it  all  planned.  "  I  know  it  will  be  the 
work  of  a  life  time/'  he  wrote  to  Gould,  "  and  I 


GEOLOGISTS  ASSOCIATION         139 

propose  to  cover  the  fossils  of  all  the  rocks  below 
the  Coal  over  the  whole  United  States."  As  the 
later  years  often  showed,  Hall's  determination  was 
irresistible  and  it  is  doubtless  true  that  in  the  di- 
vision of  the  new  functions  he  outwitted  Doctor 
Emmons. 

In  the  further  consideration  of  Professor  Hall's 
career  it  seems  well  to  divide  it  into  epochs  each 
characterized  by  the  execution  of  a  volume  of  the 
Palaeontology  of  New  York;  for  whatever  other 
things  he  was  concerned  with,  these  marked  off  the 
hours  upon  the  dial  face  of  his  life.  Other  events 
may  be  given  their  due  weight  within  this  classifi- 
cation. So  now  having  noted  the  completion  of 
volume  1,  in  1847,  we  may  go  back  to  take  up  some 
of  the  lively  sidelights  of  the  years  of  its  incuba- 
tion. 

In  1843  the  new  Association  of  Geologists  and 
Naturalists  (organized  the  year  before  in  Boston), 
met  in  the  old  Geological  Hall  at  Albany  with 
Henry  D.  Rogers  presiding.  It  was  a  day  of 
triumph  for  Hall,  for  his  fresh  assignment  gave 
him  great  prominence  and  he  was  already  the  lead- 
ing figure  among  the  younger  American  geologists. 
The  gathering  was  notable  in  its  personnel.  There 
were  the  two  Sillimans  and  Dana  (father  and  son 
and  son-in-law)  ;  Dale  Owen,  Douglas  Houghton 
and  Nicollet  from  the  West  and  South ;  Charles  T. 
Jackson  and  George  B.  Emerson  of  Boston,  Bailey 


140  JAMES  HALL 

of  West  Point,  Redfield  of  New  York,  Morton  and 
Haldeman  of  Philadelphia,  the  distinguished 
Hitchcock  of  Amherst  and,  as  host,  the  ubiquitous 
and  urbane  T.  Romeyn  Beck.  Though  it  was  the 
first  appearance  of  the  "  Naturalists  "  in  this  Asso- 
ciation, the  naturalists  were  practically  all  geolo- 
gists ;  and  Owen  remarks  in  a  letter  after  the  meet- 
ing upon  the  evidence  that  geology  is  "  the  science 
of  the  day." 

If  there  was  one  dominant  theme  in  these  meet- 
ings it  was  the  problems  of  the  palaeozoic  rocks. 
Rogers,  Owen  and  the  New  York  men  were  full 
of  them ;  Houghton  was  seeking  Hall's  help  in  solv- 
ing their  relations  on  the  Lake  Superior  shores; 
Dana,  not  long  back  from  the  Wilkes  Exploring 
Expedition  x  was  pregnant  with  ideas  on  corals  and 
coral  islands  which,  he  says  to  Hall,  "  I  shall  be 
glad  to  take  this  opportunity  to  make  public."  He 
had  "  something  to  say  on  the  regions  of  elevation 
and  subsidence  in  the  Pacific,  in  which  I  disagree 
entirely  from  Darwin,  although  I  adopt  his  general 
theory  with  regard  to  the  formation  of  coral 
islands/'  We  find  Dana  soon  diligently  compar- 
ing notes  on  these  things  with  Hall  and  even 
describing  the  fossil  coral  genera  of  New  York.3 

*  Intimate  relations  between  Dana  and  Hall  had  been  of  long 
standing  and  had  a  curious  beginning.  In  1837  Hall  had  written 
a  paper  on  some  Utica  shale  trilobites  (Triarthrus)  among  which 
he  thought  he  had  found  a  new  species.  He  sent  his  manuscript 
on  to  Dana  for  Silliman's  Journal  and  the  latter,  having  been 


NATIONAL  INSTITUTION  141 

In  the  spring  of  1844  the  Association  met  in 
Washington,  and  Benjamin  Silliman,  Jr.,  writes  to 
Hall  on  April  23 : 

"  I  write  now  chiefly  to  say  a  word  about  the  approach- 
ing meeting  of  the  Association.  You  of  course  will  be  there 
and  as  usual  full  of  papers  and  interesting  facts.  We  have 
great  need  of  all  the  force  we  can  muster  at  Washington, 
to  stem  the  influence  which  the  National  Institute  have 
indirectly  excited  against  us  in  forstalling  the  public  mind 
by  their  late  meeting  and  more  than  that*  by  the  ambiguous 
wording  of  their  circular  in  having  led  some  of  our  members 
to  believe  that  their  meeting  was  identical  with  ours,  and 


raised  among  the  fossils  of  this  shale  at  Utica,  N.  Y.,  had  speci- 
mens from  home  which  did  not  altogether  support  Hall's  conclu- 
sions. Hall  had  gone  off  out  of  reach  to  the  mining  regions  of 
North  Carolina  and  so  Dana  with  genuine  friendliness  entirely 
rewrote  Hall's  paper  with  what  he  believed  were  the  necessary 
changes,  and)  printed  it  in  the  Journal.  Hall  never  demurred,  but 
the  paper  made  a  little  tempest  among  other  palaeontologists  and 
after  the  organization  of  the  Geologists  Association,  Haldeman  was 
made  chairman  of  a  committee  to  pass  upon  the  momentous  ques- 
tion raised  by  this  issue,  now  become  complicated  with  certain 
similar  issues  emanating  from  the  "Taconic  System."  Writing  to 
Hall  in  1846,  nine  years  after  the  fact,  Dana  says  of  this  "  Trilobite 
affair" ;  "  I  have  had  more  regrets  than  for  anything  I  ever  did  in 
science.  *  *  *  I  ought  to  have  let  the  manuscript  alone.  *  *  * 
No  apologies  I  can  make  will  relieve  me  of  regret  and  I  leave  the 
subject.  'Live  and  learn,'  says  the  old  proverb." 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  Hall  wanted  to  go  on  the  Wilkes 
Expedition,  a  natural  ambition  for  a  young  man  looking  for 
opportunity  to  enlarge  his  experience.  He  tells  Dana  that  his 
knowledge  of  botany,  geology  and  natural  history  generally  ought 
to  make  him  of  service.  Professor  Dana  went  out  as  "  Mineralo- 
gist "  and  returned  to  make  a  distinguished  reputation  as  "  Zo- 
ologist "  of  the  Expedition.  Hall  was  one  of  many  ambitious  candi- 
dates who  were  lost  in  the  repeated  shuffling  of  this  scientific  corps. 


142  JAMES  HALL 

we  had  "  kindly  consented "  to  an  united  meeting ;  e.  g. 
Locke  and  Mather  both  came  on  with  that  impression.  I 
have  issued  to  all  the  members  a  newspaper  with  a  revised 
notice  intending  to  correct  this  impression  as  far  as  possible 
and  you  have  probably  received  it  ere  this.  H.  D.  Rogers 
has  written  me  that  he  shall  be  at  W.  with  a  short  address 
—  and  a  good  number  of  members  have  written  their  inten- 
tion of  being  there. 

We  shall  have  no  band  of  music  to  fill  up  our  intervals 
with  bass  drum  and  bugle,  as  at  the  meetings  of  the  Institute, 
but  we  must  have  interesting  discussions  of  which  they  had 
none,  and  we  must  show  them  the  difference  between  deep 
and  shallow  water. 

This  sharp  reference  to  the  "  National  Institu- 
tion "  calls  to  mind  the  memory  of  a  learned 
organization  which  was  conceived  by  representa- 
tive spirits  in  Washington  and  established  in  1840 
"  to  promote  science  and  useful  arts."  Doctor  G. 
Brown  Goode  and  Dr.  Richard  Rathbun  have, 
among  others,  left  interesting  accounts  of  the  asso- 
ciation whose  membership  included  Cabinet  offi- 
cers, members  of  Congress  and  leading  citizens 
from  the  entire  country.  The  dominant  person- 
ality in  the  Institution  was  Joel  R.  Poinsett,  of 
South  Carolina,  Secretary  of  War.  In  1844,  under 
Mr.  Poinsett's  presidency,  the  Institution  was 
reaching  out  for  congressional  support  in  the 
attainment  of  its  aims,  which  seem  largely  to  have 
been  the  establishment  of  a  National  Museum  and 
the  control  of  the  Smithson  bequest.  Doctor 


SMITH  SON  BEQUEST  143 

Goode  (quoted  by  Dr.  Rathbun)  says  that  in  April 
1844  a  "  meeting  of  the  friends  of  science,  includ- 
ing, besides  all  the  members  and  patrons  of  the 
National  Institution,  the  members  of  the  American 
Philosophical  Society  and  of  the  Association  of 
American  Geologists  and  Naturalists,  had  been 
held  in  Washington.  *  *  *  It  was  a  gala  week 
for  the  National  Institution.  The  meeting  was  in 
every  respect  a  success  and  there  was  every  reason 
to  believe  that  Congress  would  share  in  the  general 
enthusiasm  and  take  the  Society  under  its  patron- 
age." But  Congress  did  not;  "the  hopes  of 
the  promoters  were  doomed  to  disappointment " 
(Rathbun)  ;  Poinsett  resigned  the  presidency,  the 
Society  made  one  more  effort  to  meet  and  then 
expired.  The  intimations  in  Silliman's  letter  to 
Hall,  although  veiled  in  perfect  knowledge,  seem 
to  imply  that  the  geologists  must  have  obstructed 
the  plans  and  hopes  of  the  Institution ;  at  all  events 
the  geologists  survived  and  the  Institution  died 
forthwith,  and  to  its  little  assets  the  new  Smith- 
sonian, just  organizing  in  1846,  fell  heir. 

Tremendous  interest  centered  about  the  dispo- 
sition of  the  James  Smithson  bequest  which  had 
now  lain  at  interest  for  its  twenty  years,  and  there 
were  plenty  of  aspiring  candidates  for  the  execu- 
tive secretaryship  for  which  Congress  was  provid- 
ing in  the  "  Establishment  "  —  men  who  doubtless 
felt  that  no  comprehending  body  of  "  Regents  " 


144  JAMES  HALL 

could  pass  them  by.  There  was  the  Honorable 
Caleb  Gushing  of  Massachusetts,  just  returned  as 
Special  Commissioner  to  China,  and  Francis 
Markoe,  a  secretary  of  the  Philadelphia  Academy 
and  a  successful  collector  of  scientific  objects,  Pro- 
fessor James  S.  Greene  of  Princeton  and  Henry  D. 
Rogers.  Professor  Hall  himself  was  not  devoid 
of  ambition  in. this  direction  and  his  recognized 
standing  among  the  leaders  in  a  very  popular  sci- 
ence was  a  justification  so  far  as  eminence  and 
promise  in  his  profession  were  concerned.  So  he 
asked  the  younger  Silliman  to  make  inquiries  in 
his  behalf  at  Washington  and  Jeffries  Wyman  who 
was  then  at  Richmond,  Va.,  also  looked  into  the 
matter  for  him.  He  interested  his  friends,  Major 
Williams  of  the  Patent  Office  and  Thomas  T. 
Everett  to  keep  him  informed  of  the  progress  of 
affairs;  he  even  got  Lyell  to  write  to  Professor 
Henry  regarding  his  chances.  But  as  soon  as  Pro- 
fessor Henry  was  elected  to  the  secretaryship  no 
further  reference  to  the  matter  seems  to  have  been 
made  by  Hall,  and  it  is  evident  that  the  project  did 
not  lie  heavily  upon  him. 

His  salary  was  modest,  he  had  to  avail  himself 
of  outside  opportunities  and  this  brought  him  into 
connection  with  the  Lake  Superior  Copper  Com- 
pany, a  private  enterprise  but  an  outgrowth  of  Dr. 
Houghton's  explorations  in  the  Michigan  Terri- 
tory. This  company  had  enlisted  the  attention  of 


ISLE  ROY  ALE  145 

several  of  the  geologists  and  Hall  was  employed 
by  them  in  1845  to  examine  their  holdings.  This 
was  before  the  organization  of  the  government 
survey  of  the  mineral  lands  under  the  General 
Land  Office  in  charge  of  Charles  T.  Jackson,  but 
Dr.  Jackson  had  already  been  on  the  ground  with 
Professor  Charles  U.  Shepard,  the  eminent  min- 
eralogist of  Amherst  and  Yale.  Thus  he  made  his 
first  entry  into  a  region  to  which  he  was  to  give 
much  subsequent  study  in  connection  with  the 
Foster  &  Whitney  explorations,  but  this  time  he 
was  on  private  business  and  there  joined  James  T. 
Hodge,  a  geologist  who  had  been  assistant  to 
Rogers  on  the  Pennsylvania  Survey.  There  has 
been  no  printed  account  of  this  trip,  but  I  here 
insert  for  its  historical  worth,  Hall's  story  of  it  as 
written  out  by  him  for  Dr.  Alfred  C.  Lane  (1896) 
then  assistant  to  Lucius  L.  Hubbard,  the  state 
geologist  of  Michigan. 

"  The  chief  object  in  my  going  to  Lake  Superior  was  to 
make  an  exploration  of  Isle  Royale,  as  it  was  at  that  time 
a  question  in  Washington  whether  that  island  should  not 
be  reserved  from  the  public  privilege  of  making  mining 
locations,  since  it  was  believed  to  be  remarkably  rich  in 
ores  of  copper  and  silver.  A  surveyor,  Mr.  Hodge  of 
Niagara  county,  was  designated  to  conduct  the  surveys  under 
my  direction.  We  organized  a  party  numbering  altogether 
eight  men,  two  of  whom  were  French  voyageurs  whom  I 
engaged  at  Detroit.  I  had  purchased  provisions  and  some 
other  things  for  our  outfit  in  Cleveland.  At  Detroit  I 
10 


146  JAMES  HALL 

bought  a  two-masted  sail  boat  which  had  been  built  expressly 
for  sailing  in  that  neighborhood,  adding  to  our  outfit  other 
things  that  were  necessary.  We  thence  proceeded  to  Macki- 
naw by  steamer  and  there  purchasing  a  large  Mackinaw 
boat  we  transported  all  our  provisions  and  other  necessary 
articles  of  outfit  to  the  Sault  St.  Marie,  expecting  to  go  on 
board  a  schooner  for  Copper  Harbor.  Finding  this  schooner 
(the  Swallow)  still  on  the  ways  between  the  Sault  and  the 
lake  above,  with  a  certainty  of  being  delayed  for  at  least 
a  week  on  this  account,  I  left  everything  in  charge  of 
Mr.  Hodge  and  his  associates. 

"At  Detroit  we  had  been  joined  by  Mr.  James  Wads- 
worth  of  Geneseo  N.  Y.,  Hon.  Francis  C.  Gray  of  Boston, 
and  Mr.  Olmstead,  a  son  of  Prof.  Olmstead  of  New  Haven, 
who  were  on  their  way  to  Lake  Superior  for  the  object 
of  general  exploration.  An  Indian  agent  with  his  wife,  a 
halfbreed,  living  at  the  head  of  Lake  Superior,  had  joined 
us  at  Mackinaw,  and  we  were  all  anxious  to  get  forward 
without  waiting  for  the  launching  of  the  schooner  into 
Lake  Superior.  In  this  predicament  we  purchased  at  the 
Sault  two  large  birch  canoes,  each  one  twenty-five  feet  in 
length.  Manning  these  canoes  and  taking  a  small  amount 
of  provisions  we  started  on  our  coasting  trip  to  Copper 
Harbor,  keeping  well  in  shore  during  the  day  and  camping 
on  the  beach  at  night.  The  trip  was  a  very  pleasant  one  in 
all  respects  except  its  slowness.  Arriving  at  Copper  Harbor 
we  waited  the  arrival  of  the  schooner  Swallow,  which  came 
along  some  days  later  bringing  our  provisions,  tents  and 
men,  except  the  two  French  voyageurs  who  had  come  in 
the  canoes.  From  Copper  Harbor  we  were  taken  to  Isle 
Royale  on  the  schooner  Chippewa,  carrying  with  us  only 
our  provisions,  tents  and  other  necessary  articles,  and  our 
sail  boat  which  I  had  purchased  at  Detroit,  and  one  birch 
bark  canoe  of  twenty-five  feet  in  length.  We  were  landed 


LAKE  SUPERIOR,  1845  147 

in  a  little  land-locked  harbor  which  we  named  Chippewa 
Harbor,  after  the  schooner  which  brought  us  over.  At 
that  point  we  made  our  rendezvous,  and  began  exploring 
the  island,  taking  with  us  the  small  sail  boat  and  the  canoe, 
coasting  along  the  south  shore  to  the  eastward,  and  pene- 
trating the  interior  on  foot  at  intervals,  as  far  as  practicable. 
We  also  visited  and  explored  the  little  island  to  the  eastward 
of  Isle  Royale. 

"At  one  place  on  the  north  side  of  the  island  we  dis- 
covered copper  and  silver  both  in  pebbles  and  in  the  rock, 
and  marked  this  location  upon  our  map,  it  being  the  only 
one  observed  which  seemed  worthy  of  serious  considera- 
tion. At  this  place  there  was  a  small  sheltered  cove  or 
inlet  of  very  little  consequence,  but  which  we  designated 
on  our  map,  but  the  name  I  have  now  forgotten,  and  it 
has  long  since,  I  dare  say,  become  entirely  changed  or  oblit- 
erated by  the  explorers'  work.  This  place  subsequently 
became  important  from  the  discovery  of  an  old  working  and 
a  large  mass  of  native  copper,  as  I  have  been  informed. 
Following  the  northern  coast  of  the  island  to  the  westward, 
and  turning  south,  we  came  into  Washington  Harbor,  where 
we  remained  for  some  time  exploring  the  country  as  far  as 
we  could,  though  we  were  not  prepared  to  cut  paths  and 
make  our  way  as  would  have  been  desirable  for  a  thorough 
exploration  of  the  country. 

"  From  Washington  Harbor  we  went  along  the  south 
coast  to  Chippewa  Harbor,  our  permanent  rendezvous,  and 
waited  there  for  the  anticipated  arrival  of  the  Chippewa, 
whose  captain  had  made  an  appointment  to  meet  us  at  a 
certain  date.  We  waited  two  days  beyond  this  date  and  our 
provisions  having  been  nearly  exhausted  and  the  party  be- 
coming dissatisfied,  I  yielded  to  their  importunities  and 
agreed  to  attempt  to  sail  across  the  lake  to  the  south  shore. 
The  day  proved  a  very  boisterous  one ;  a  strong  west  wind 


148  JAMES  HALL 

coming  up  after  a  southeaster  made  it  extremely  dangerous. 
Notwithstanding  we  were  nearly  swamped  several  times  we 
arrived  at  Copper  Harbor  on  the  south  shore  late  at  night, 
bringing  with  us  the  collection  of  specimens  that  had  been 
made  upon  the  island.  We  afterwards  explored  the  south 
shore  of  Lake  Superior,  stopping  at  the  localities  which 
were  then  worked  at  Eagle  River,  Eagle  Harbor,  and  other 
places  as  far  as  the  Ontonagon  River. 

"  I  made  a  report  to  the  parties  who  sent  me  to  the  island, 
but  this  report  was  .never  published.  The  desired  informa- 
tion having  been  obtained  I  think  the  authorities  at  Wash- 
ington opened  the  island  soon  afterwards  to  the  public  for 
making  mining  locations." 

Hall  stayed  late  in  the  season  and  Hodge  went 
back  to  Boston  whence  he  writes  to  Hall  at  the 
"  Lake  Superior  Mines  "  in  November  a  gossipy 
letter  which  is  interesting  now  for  its  frank  refer- 
ences to  Jackson  whose  explosive  eccentricities 
were  forever  getting  the  accomplished  Doctor  in 
trouble ;  to  Henry  D.  Rogers,  then  an  active  candi- 
date for  the  Rumford  professorship  in  chemistry 
at  Cambridge  (which  was  to  go  to  Horsford) ;  to 
Charles  B.  Adams,  State  Geologist  of  Vermont 
and  to  Sir  Charles  Lyell;  and  in  one  of  the  last  of 
these  there  is  a  pathetic  touch  where  he  refers  to 
the  drowning  of  Douglas  Houghton  (1845): 
"  Truly  it  is  a  most  serious  loss  to  the  State  of 
Michigan,  the  United  States  and  to  the  scientific 
world."  Twenty-six  years  after,  Hodge  was  him- 


LYELL'S  SECOND  VISIT  149 

self  drowned  in  Lake  Huron  while  on  his  geological 
work. 

Sir  Charles  Lyell  had  come  back,  in  1845,  for 
his  second  tour  among  the  States  and  brought  the 
published  story  of  his  first  visit,  his  "  Travels  in 
North  America,"  with  him.  The  book  was  so  at- 
tractively written,  so  filled  with  lively  appreciation 
and  generous  expression  toward  the  American  in- 
stitutions inclusive  of  the  geologists,  that  it  made 
an  agreeable  passport,  if  any  were  needed,  after 
the  slight  eruption  at  his  previous  visit.  It  was  the 
Lowell  Institute  lectures  again  that  brought  him 
but  as  Lyell  was  not  an  attractive  lecturer,  the 
acclaim  of  his  advent  had  died  down  and  he  de- 
voted his  time  to  more  travel  among  the  geologists 
and  their  fields,  though  he  did  not  come  to  Albany 
until  the  close  of  his  journeyings,  in  May,  1846. 
This  visit  was  made  at  the  joint  solicitation  of 
Emmons  and  Hall,  both  of  whom  wanted  Lyell  to 
see  the  typical  New  York  section  of  the  Taconic 
System  at  Bald  Mountain  in  Washington  County. 
So  the  three,  after  one  more  trip  over  the  Helder- 
bergs  (still  aflame  with  the  "Anti-Rent  War") 
and  across  the  Hudson  to  the  interesting  "  Silu- 
rian "  (Ordovician)  exposures  on  Rysedorph  hill 
in  Greenbush,  went  north  to  the  Battenkill  and 
the  Bald  Mountain  overthrust.  Here  Emmons  had 
found  the  trilobites  on  the  basis  of  which,  in  part, 
he  threw  the  entire  rock  series  containing  them, 


150  JAMES  HALL 

and  much  more  besides,  into  a  system  —  the 
Taconic  —  lower  than  the  Potsdam  sandstone,  that 
is,  lower  than  the  lowest  term  of  the  rock  succes- 
sion admitted  by  his  New  York  associates.  The 
trilobites  were  there.  Time  has  shown  that  Em- 
mons  was  right  as  to  their  age  and  position  and 
they  were  the  first  "  primordial "  fossils  found  in 
America.  Lyell  saw  the  fossils  but  did  not  com- 
prehend them;  he  had  left  behind  in  England  a 
similar  problem  hotly  debated  by  Sir  Roderick 
Murchison  and  Professor  Sedgwick  of  Cambridge 
and  as  a  disciple  of  the  former  he  construed  the 
Silurian  in  its  broadest  sense.  "  I  believe "  he 
writes  after  this  visit,  "  the  formation  called 
Taconic  in  the  United  States  to  have  claim  to  no 
higher  antiquity  [than  Silurian]  and  to  be  simply 
Silurian  strata  much  altered  and  often  quite 
metamorphic." 

In  the  intervals  of  these  doings  Hall  bubbled 
with  enthusiasm  over  the  garden  he  was  planting 
at  his  new  home  on  Lydius  Street  [Madison 
avenue].  He  loved  plants  and  fossils  and  the 
plants  had  been  first  in  his  affection;  so  Joseph 
Clark  of  Cincinnati  promises  to  enclose  with  the 
fossils  he  is  sending,  a  few  strawberry  plants,  the 
"  Iowa,"  the  "  Mammoth  "  and  the  "  Kean  Seed- 
ling ; "  and  these  are  followed  by  cuttings  of  the 
"  Catawba,"  "  Missouri "  and  "  Isabella  "  grapes, 
with  a  few  slips  of  Osage  orange.  Doctor  Sart- 


OREN  ROOT  151 

well,  the  botanist  of  Penn  Yan,  sends  him  cuttings 
of  the  "  Wayne  "  apple,  and  so  on.  There  were 
boys  to  help  through  college,  and  boys  who  sought 
and  found  in  him  every  encouragement  for  their 
collections  in  natural  history. 

"  Sir,"  wrote  young  J.  F.  Wilkinson  from  Syracuse,  "  do 
you  recollect  that  when  Mr.  Root,4  the  teacher  of  the 
Academy  here  was  in  Albany  and  went  to  the  room  where 
your  Cabinet  was,  there  was  a  boy  with  him?  I  am  that 
boy.  You  promised  to  send  him  a  box  of  minerals.*  *  * 
Mr.  Hall:  P.  S.  You  need  not  label  them  unless  you 
choose  to." 

Soon  Louis  Agassiz  arrived  and  was  charming 
everyone  with  his  lectures;  forthwith  Hall  would 
lecture,  and  tries  to  get  Dr.  Samuel  G.  Morton  to 
arrange  a  course  for  him  at  the  Philosophical  So- 
ciety at  Philadelphia.  To  the  end  of  his  life  Pro- 
fessor Hall  failed  to  realize  how  dull  a  lecturer  he 
had  become.  Through  Benjamin  Hale,  President 
of  Geneva  (Hobart)  College,  he  had  got  hold  of  a 
recently  discovered  skull  of  the  giant  beaver  from 

4  This  was  Professor  Oren  Root,  father  of  the  Honorable  Elihu 
Root.  As  a  schoolmaster  in  Syracuse,  Utica  and  Seneca  Falls  he 
was  an  intensely  enthusiastic  student  and  collector  of  minerals  and 
in  constant  communication  with  Hall.  Just  before  leaving  Seneca 
Falls  to  take  the  professorship  of  natural  history  and  chemistry  at 
Hamilton  College,  he  was  very  desirous  to  sell  his  collection,  but 
failing,  he  took  it  to  Hamilton  where  it  formed  the  nucleus  of  the 
scientific  collections  of  the  College.  The  Memorial  of  Professor 
Root's  beautiful  character  and  fine  educational  service  appears  in 
the  Proceedings  of  the  Twenty-third  Convocation  of  the  University 
of  the  State  of  New  York,  1886,  p.  220. 


152  JAMES  HALL 

the  swamps  of  Clyde,  N.  Y.,  and  at  the  urgent 
recommendation  of  Dr.  Gould,  had  turned  it  over 
to  Dr.  Jeffries  Wyman  for  description.  Together 
they  published  a  monograph  of  this  great  Casto- 
roides  skull,  but  it  took  endless  correspondence 
between  President  Hale  and  Hall  to  put  the  unique 
specimen  back  into  the  halls  of  Geneva  College.5 
Just  at  this  time  Hall  was  invited  to  the  pro- 
fessorship of  Mining  Geology  and  Agricultural 
Chemistry  in  the  University  of  Alabama,  but  a 
salary  of  $1700  a  year  did  not  prove  very  tempting, 
though  accompanied  by  a  half  promise  that  he 
should  be  State  Geologist  if  he  could  succeed  in 
arousing  a  proper  sentiment  for  a  survey. 

'It  is  now  in  the  State  Museum  at  Albany. 


THE  PERIOD  OF  VOLUME  I -1843-1847 -Continued 


Arrival  of  De  Verneuil  —  His  appreciation  of  Hall  — 
Their  trips  together  —  His  influence  on  Hall  — 
Murchison  and  Sedgwick;  the  Silurian  and  the  Cam- 
brian Systems  —  The  Devonian  System  —  Letter  from 
Murchison  —  Its  effect  —  Later  letters  from  De  Ver- 
neuil in  the  Revolution  of  1848  —  Arrival  of  Louis 
Agassiz  —  His  commanding  influence  —  Enthusiasm  of 
his  reception  —  Immediate  visit  to  Hall  —  Agassiz's 
impression  of  the  New  York  Survey — Roemer's  visit 
—  Carr  wishes  to  be  State  Geologist  of  Vermont  — 
Charles  T.  Jackson  —  Hall's  report  for  the  Fremont 
Expedition  —  Geology  in  Mississippi 

THE  important  events  of  the  year  1846  were 
the  arrivals  in  America  of  Louis  Agas- 
siz and  Edouard  de  Verneuil;  one  from 
Switzerland,  the  other  from  France;  one  a  great 
naturalist  in  the  broad  sense,  the  other  a  successful 
student  of  the  ancient  rocks  who  had  attained  dis- 
tinction not  alone  from  his  work  in  France  but  also 
by  his  cooperation  with  Sir  Roderick  Murchison  in 
studies  of  the  palaeozoic  formations  of  Russia  and 
the  Ural  Mountains.  Already  Count  de  Verneuil's 
enthusiastic  felicitations  on  the  Fourth  District 
Report  had  reached  Hall  with  the  assurance :  "  I 
can  not  read  your  work  without  experiencing  a 
strong  desire  to  visit  a  country  so  rich  in  palaeozoic 
fossils  and  where  the  succession  is  already  so  well 

[153] 


154  JAMES  HALL 

established  that  it  outstrips  the  efforts  we  have 
made  in  Europe  to  decipher  this  obscure  page  in 
the  history  of  the  earth." 

The  geological  reader  must  remember  that  until 
the  work  of  Sir  Roderick  Murchison  and  Professor 
Adam  Sedgwick  in  Britain  and  in  the  Eifel,  of 
Murchison  in  Scandinavia,  of  Murchison,  Count 
de  Verneuil  and  Count  de  Keyserling  in  Russia 
and  of  the  geologists  in  New  York,  nothing  was 
known  of  the  true  order  of  the  rocks  below  the 
"  Coal."  These  undertakings  were  therefore  all  in 
a  new  field  and  had  all  the  glamor  of  explorations 
into  an  unknown  country.  The  coming  of  De  Ver- 
neuil was  a  first  visit  to  America  from  a  pioneer  in 
this  European  field.  On  his  arrival  in  Boston  he 
found  Lyell,  who  advised  him  to  spend  all  the  time 
he  could  at  Albany  in  studying  Hall's  collection, 
"  as  the  richest  and  over  all  the  most  scientific  in  the 
States  "  (De  Verneuil  to  Hall,  May  22,  1846).  He 
took  Lyell's  advice,  spent  several  weeks  among 
Hall's  collections  and  in  visits  to  the  Helderbergs 
and  Schoharie  and  then  partly  under  Hall's  guid- 
ance and  partly  with  his  pockets  filled  with  Hall's 
letters  of  introduction,  he  made  his  visits  to  the 
best  of  the  New  York  localities,  into  the  Middle- 
west  and  thence  to  the  Lake  Superior  district  to 
which  American  attention  was  then  being  closely 
given.  Thence  he  returned  to  New  York  to  visit 
Moscow  and  the  Portage  falls  of  the  Genesee  river, 


COUNT  DE  VERNEUIL  155 

and  his  letters  to  Hall  on  this  trip  are  full  of  critical 
and  suggestive  observations.  De  Verneuil's  trip 
was  cometary ;  he  was  back  in  Paris  by  the  close  of 
the  summer ;  he  made  no  notes  on  people  and  things 
but  gave  himself  wholly  to  the  purpose  of  studying 
the  palaeozoic  fossils,  unfailingly  urging  upon  Hall 
the  importance  of  adopting  Murchison's  classifica- 
tion of  the  palaeozoic  rocks  and  preventing  Profes- 
sor Sedgwick's  term  Cambrian,  so  offensive  to  the 
Murchison  school,  from  invading  the  New  World. 
Many  things  resulted  from  De  Verneuil's  visit, 
among  others  a  very  important  comparison  of  the 
ancient  rocks  and  fossils  of  America  and  Europe, 
published  on  his  return  to  France,  and  with  the 
author's  consent  translated,  amplified  and  pub- 
lished by  Hall  at  a  later  date  in  his  report  on  the 
survey  of  Lake  Superior  and  in  the  American  Jour- 
nal of  Science.  De  Verneuil  went  back  really  much 
perturbed  over  Hall's  evident  purpose  to  recognize 
Sedgwick's  "  Cambrian  "  division  as  against  Mur- 
chison's extension  of  his  Silurian  System  down- 
ward to  include  these  rocks.  Let  us  look  into  this 
matter  historically  a  moment ;  it  involves  one  of  the 
very  important  issues  in  the  development  of  the 
science.  Sir  Roderick  Impey  Murchison  had  an- 
nounced somewhat  vaguely  in  1835  his  conception 
of  the  Silurian  System  and  in  1839  developed  and 
defined  it.  That  his  activities  were  accelerated  by 
a  knowledge  that  the  New  York  geologists  were  at 


156  JAMES  HALL 

work  in  the  same  field  there  is  no  doubt,  nor  is 
there  any  denying  that  it  would  have  been  better 
for  American  geology,  if  not  for  the  science,  if  the 
definition  and  name  of  this  system  had  been  taken 
from  the  lucid  New  York  sections  with  their  clear 
lower  and  upper  boundaries  than  from  the  greatly 
disturbed,  abnormal  and  still  undefined  sections  of 
North  Wales  on  which  these  studies  were  based. 
More  than  that,  the  Silurian  System  comprehended 
terms  that  were  as  independent  of  each  other  as  the 
whole  was  from  the  overlying  Devonian.  Con- 
temporaneously, Professor  Sedgwick  of  Cam- 
bridge, studying  the  rocks  of  North  Wales,  worked 
out  a  system  which  he  called  "  Cambrian  "  and 
which,  as  it  proved,  included  all  the  lower  term  of 
the  "  Silurian  "  and,  besides,  a  series  of  basement 
beds  which  Murchison  excluded  from  his  system. 
Sir  Roderick  was  a  personage  of  great  social  and 
scientific  distinction,  and  as  he  was  soon  to  succeed 
De  la  Beche  as  Director-general  of  the  Geological 
Survey  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  his  position 
was  such  as  to  exert  a  powerful  influence  against 
the  invasion  of  his  "  Siluria,"  and  he  did  drive  out 
the  invader  so  that  the  term  Cambrian  became 
eventually  restricted  to  rocks  represented  in  the 
lowest  part  of  Sedgwick's  original  system.  But 
this  controversy  over  the  interpretation  of  the  geo- 
logical column  and  the  contentious  personal  claims 


MURCHISON  AND  SEDGWICK     157 

of  Murchison  and  Sedgwick  had  a  most  unhappy 
outcome  for  the  science.  A  threefold  division  in 
the  "  protozoic  "  rocks  had  become  evident :  Upper 
Silurian,  Lower  Silurian,  Cambrian,  as  the  Mur- 
chisonians  would  have  it;  Silurian,  Upper  Cam- 
brian, Lower  Cambrian,  according1  to  the  Cam- 
bridge adherents  of  Sedgwick;  Silurian,  Cambro- 
Silurian,  Cambrian  of  the  "  mutual  friends."  But 
as  none  of  these  could  be  assured  of  general  ac- 
ceptance, Lapworth  in  1877,  introduced  for  the 
offending  middle  term  the  ugly  word  Ordovician 
which  has  unhappily  limped  into  use,  though  no 
American  geologist  ever  writes  the  word  without 
a  protest  and  certainly  a  New  York  geologist 
having  before  his  eyes  the  term  "  Champlain," 
applied  to  these  formations  in  1843,  can  not  em- 
ploy the  word  without  conscious  loss  of  self- 
spect.  Be  this  as  it  may,  the  "  Silurian  System  " 
was  abroad  before  the  New  York  men  had  sug- 
gested a  grouping  of  the  equivalent  formations  into 
three  major  terms;  Ontario,  Mohawk  and  Cham- 
plain. 

Murchison  and  Sedgwick  maintained  harmon- 
ious cooperation  in  their  geological  studies  until  the 
early  years  of  the  1840s.  In  1839  jointly  they  de- 
fined the  "  Devonian  System  "  from  a  study  of  the 
badly  disturbed  marine  strata  of  Devonshire,  a 
system  lying  between  the  Silurian  and  the  Old 


158  JAMES  HALL 

Red  Sandstone.      Regarding    this    announcement 
Professor  Schuchert  has  written:6 

"  So  fearing  that  the  New  York  State  Geologists  would 
soon  propose  a  period  name  for  equivalent  formations,  they 
hastened  their  work  and  in  the  same  year  defined  the  period 
term  Devonian.  Their  definition  was  no  definition  in  the 
sense  either  of  delimitation  or  zoological  characterization ; 
both  rocks  and  contents  were  curtailed,  deformed  to  a  mere 
abstraction,  and  to  develop  their  conception  the  authors  be- 
took themselves  to  the  Rhine  Valley  whence  a  more  perspica- 
cious exemplification  of  the  Devonian  was  educed.  *  *  * 
If  our  English  cousins  had  waited  until  1842,  the  period 
would  now  be  called  Erian  and  the  State  of  New  York 
would  have  been  the  type  area,  than  which  there  could  have 
been  no  better." 

When  Sir  Roderick  learned  from  De  Verneuil 
that  Mr.  Hall  was  likely  to  adopt  for  New  York  the 
name  Cambrian  in  Sedgwick's  meaning,  he  sent 
him  the  following  letter,  so  important  in  showing 
the  influences  bearing  on  the  classification  of  the 
rocks  of  the  State,  that  we  give  it  entire. 

BELGRAVE  SQUARE,  London,  23  Dec.  1846 
MY  DEAR  SIR  — 

On  his  return  from  the  United  States,  my  friend  and 
coadjutor  M.  de  Verneuil  rejoiced  me  by  explaining  to  how 
remarkable  a  degree  the  natural  divisions  of  the  palaeozoic 
rocks  of  N.  America  coincided  with  those  we  had  been 
occupied  together  in  applying  to  Europe.  I  also  learnt  from 
him,  with  much  pleasure,  that  you  were  about  to  continue 


'Textbook  of  Geology,  p.  695. 


MURCHISON'S  LETTER  159 

your  great  work  and  to  generalize  the  comparison  of  the 
N.  American  groups  with  our  European  divisions.  At  the 
same  time  I  could  not  but  deeply  regret  to  learn  that  you 
had  some  intention  of  applying  to  the  great  protozoic  di- 
vision which  is  typified  by  fossils  I  published  as  Lower 
Silurian,  the  name  of  Cambrian.  Presuming  that  you  may 
not  yet  have  quite  decided  upon  your  course  in  regard  to 
this  subject  of  nomenclature,  permit  me  to  state  my  views 
to  you  and  explain  the  grounds  on  which  I  still  hope  you 
will  adhere  to  the  names  now  generally  used  in  Europe 
and  which  must  prevent  the  application  of  a  term  which  has 
never  yet  been  defined  by  any  zoological  characters. 

In  the  year  1835  (June),  after  four  years  of  previous 
labour  "  ad  hoc,"  I  proposed  the  term  Silurian  System  and 
then  divided  it  into  an  Upper  and  Lower  group,  each  char- 
acterized by  typical  fossils.  As  soon  as  this  name  was 
approved  by  English  and  continental  geologists,  I  urged  my 
friend  Professor  Sedgwick  to  apply  some  distinct  name  to 
the  large  mass  of  slaty  rocks  which  as  a  whole  seemed  to 
rise  up  from  beneath  my  Silurian  System. 

The  term  was  used  in  precisely  the  same  sense  as  the 
word  Silurian ;  it  being  hoped  that  the  rocks  so  named  would 
be  found  to  contain  a  series  of  organic  forms  as  distinct 
from  those  of  Siluria  as  the  latter  were  from  those  of  any 
overlying  deposit. 

It  was  with  this  meaning  that  the  word  Cambrian  was 
used  in  my  Silurian  System,  finally  published  in  1839,  and 
Professor  Sedgwick  undertook  to  develop  the  nature  of 
his  Cambrian  fossils.  Years  rolled  on  and  the  palaeozoic 
relations  above  the  Silurian  were  cleared  up  by  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Devonian  System,  but  nothing  was  done  to 
typify  the  Cambrian. 

In  this  state  of  things  the  survey  of  Russia  and  Scandi- 
navia commenced,  and  the  result  was  (as  you  know)  the 


160  JAMES  HALL 

demonstration  that  the  strata  there  loaded  with  Lower  Silu- 
rian types  reposed  on  crystalline  rocks  without  fossils.  At 
the  same  time  Cambria  being  more  explored,  it  was  found, 
and  even  admitted  by  Professor  Sedgwick  himself  that  all 
its  lower  rocks  contained  nothing  but  Lower  Silurian  fos- 
sils. Hence  I  announced  in  my  discussion  of  1843  (Geol. 
Soc.)  that  the  Lower  Silurian  extended  downwards  through- 
out the  principality,  and  a  general  map  of  England  was 
coloured  on  this  principle,  of  which  8,000  copies  were  circu- 
lated by  the  Society  for  the  Diffusion  of  Useful  Knowledge. 
Lastly,  in  1845  the  work  on  Russia  was  published  and  be- 
fore the  first  chapter  (the  last  printed)  was  issued,  I  sent 
it  to  Professor  Sedgwick  who  made  no  objection  to  the 
views  contained  therein.  Thenceforward  I  naturally  thought 
that  the  terminology  applied  to  such  large  regions  of  Europe 
and  adopted  by  French,  German,  Swedish  and  Russian  geol- 
ogists (as  well  as  by  those  of  Britain,  including  Sedgwick 
himself)  would  never  more  be  interfered  with.  My  sur- 
prize therefore  has  been  great  and  my  regret  not  less  so, 
to  find  that  Professor  Sedgwick  (unable  to  say  that  the 
so-called  Cambrian  Rocks  are  anything  zoologically  but 
Lower  Silurian  strata)  after  using  my  Upper  and  Lower 
types  in  working  out  the  complicated  relations  of  his  coun- 
try, should  now  go  the  length  of  proposing  the  substitution 
of  the  word  Cambrian  for  Lower  Silurian!  Now  on  this 
point  I  have  protested  (and  I  believe  every  English  geol- 
ogist except  my  old  friend  will  support  me),  in  opposing 
th,is  desecration  of  my  System  by  cutting  off1  from  it 
its  lower  half,  that  half  being  much  the  most  considerable 
as  to  the  area  it  occupies. 

All  English  palaeontologists  are  agreed  that  the  Lower 
and  Upper  Silurian  form  one  natural  system  and  not  two. 
In  addition  to  the  community  of  fossils  (as  genera)  so  many 
species  have  now  been  found  to  run,  if  not  nearly  through, 


MURCHISON  TO  HALL  161 

at  all  events  so  intimately  to  connect  the  two  groups,  that 
their  isolation  by  distinct  names  is  inadmissible.  The 
British  Government  geologists'  assurance  is  that  this  is 
peculiarly  so  in  Cambria  itself  and  hence  that  one  name 
only  can  be  used.  It  would  surely,  therefore,  be  a  singular 
recompense  for  all  my  labours  if  the  Silurian  System  should 
be  so  attenuated,  so  deprived  of  its  larger  part  as  scarcely 
to  be  recognisable  on  general  maps. 

Referring  to  general  maps,  it  does  not  even  now  occupy 
one-half  of  the  area  of  the  Devonian  System  in  Russia  or 
Scandinavia  and  not  a  twentieth  part  of  the  area  of  that 
system  in  Germany.  But  if  the  Lower  Silurian  be  ab- 
stracted, the  very  name  would  be  driven  from  the  mainlands 
of  Russia  and  Sweden  and  confined  to  the  Baltic  Isles; 
whilst  in  England  it  would  be  a  mere  band. 

The  geographical  demarcation  between  the  tract  originally 
called  Silurian  and  Cambrian  has  nothing  to  do  with  the 
philosophy  of  the  question,  for  if  the  axiom  of  strata  iden- 
tified by  their  fossils  be  maintained,  is  it  not  clear  that  the 
published  Lower  Silurian  types  being  found  to  descend 
throughout  the  Cambrian  or  N.  Welsh  rocks  (all  S.  Wales 
and  its  supposed  Cambrian  having  been  demonstrated  to  be 
physically  the  same  Lower  Silurian  described  to  the  East  of 
it  by  the  Government  surveyors)  must  give  the  name  to  the 
rocks  in  which  they  are  found?  What  does  it  signify  in 
geological  and  palaeontological  classification  that  a  forma- 
tion should  be  10  times  thicker  in  one  tract  than  in  another, 
provided  it  contains  no  new  group  of  fossils?  Surely  the 
generalizations  of  my  friends  and  self  ought  to  have  their 
due  weight  in  this  question.  Did  any  one  ever  propose  that 
the  term  of  Lias  should  be  changed  when  it  was  found  that 
the  formation  was  three  times  as  thick  and  very  differently 
subdivided  at  Whitby  when  compared  with  the  first  recog- 
nized types  in  the  S.  of  England?  Such  changes  would 
11 


162  JAMES  HALL 

lead  to  interminable  confusion,  and  as  I  have  fairly  worked 
out  by  a  series  of  inductive  proofs,  that  the  Lower  Silurian 
is  the  protozoic  group,  so  most  assuredly  must  the  name  be 
adhered  to.  Fully  confident  that  I  shall  be  supported  in  this 
view  by  English  and  European  geologists  who  will  not  per- 
mit a  name  to  be  taken  for  an  unknown  quantity  which  has 
never  been  typified  and  whose  relations,  on  the  contrary,  have 
only  been  made  known  by  reference  to  my  published  types, 
I  should  deeply  regret  to  see  that  such  an  anachronism  was 
introduced  on  your  side  of  the  water.  I  therefore  hope  that 
the  strata  from  the  Potsdam  sandstone  up  to  the  Hudson 
River  Group  will  be  named  Lower  Silurian  as  they  are  by 
M.  de  Verneuil  and  Mr.  Lyell. 

Having  the  sincerest  personal  regard  for  Professor  Sedg- 
wick  whose  labours  have  been  so  blended  with  my  own  and 
who  has  done  so  much  in  every  branch  of  palaeozoic  enquiry, 
the  position  in  which  I  now  find  myself  (unexpectedly)  is 
one  of  great  vexation.  I  wish  my  friend's  labours  to  be 
thoroughly  recognized  but  not  at  the  expense  of  the  Silurian 
System.  I  write  this  letter  in  confidence  and  not  to  be 
noticed  publickly.  It  is  intended  for  your  own  meditations, 
and  again  congratulating  you  on  the  impulse  you  have  given 
and  are  giving  to  N.  American  geology,  I  remain,  my  dear 
sir, 

Yours  very  sincerely, 

ROD.  I.  MURCHISON 

The  appeal  of  the  Director-general  doubtless  had 
its  due  weight  with  Hall  and  this  appeal  was  made 
very  direct  by  De  Verneuil :  "  I  told  Mr.  Murchi- 
son  you  were  rather  inclined  to  apply  the  name 
Cambrian  to  the  lower  Silurian.  It  would  have 
been  for  him  a  great  sorrow  to  see  his  system  de- 


NEW  YORK  vs.  BRITAIN  163 

prived  of  your  400  well  defined  species.  However 
/  am  ready  to  confess  that  if  it  were  a  nezv  field 
your  lower  Silurian  in  America  deserves  as  well  to 
have  its  own  name  as  the  Devonian  System  " ;  —  a 
suggestion  that  Hall  might  well  have  heeded.  Hall 
did  not  adopt  the  Sedgwickian  ideas,  but  neither 
did  he  warm  to  the  English  classification  in  any 
form.  His  chief  purpose  was  to  establish  the  clas- 
sification pronounced  and  promulgated  by  his  col- 
leagues and  himself  —  the  New  York  Series  of 
Geological  Formations.  He  had  been  witness  to 
the  ineffective  efforts  by  earlier  American  workers 
to  adopt  the  European  category  of  names  for  the 
rocks  above  the  Coal  and  he  was  probably  conscious 
that  the  British  geologists  had  stolen  a  march  upon 
the  New  Yorkers.  If  Hall  had  expressed  with 
more  conviction  the  major  grouping  of  these  New 
York  terms,  they  might  have  prevailed  in  the 
American  nomenclature;  they  may  yet,  for  their 
intrinsic  merits  grow  more  obvious  and  their 
integrity  is  to  their  advantage  in  contrast  with  the 
present  application  of  the  British  names. 

Hall,  alone  in  life,  felt  his  isolation  and  this,  I 
think,  made  his  propositions,  where  they  should 
have  been  strong,  tentative  or  rather  timid.  "  Situ- 
ated," he  says  in  the  preface  to  Volume  I,  "  where 
I  can  have  no  recourse  to  scientific  friends  except 
by  letters,  with  a  scanty  library  of  works  on  Pal- 
aeontology and  no  authentic  collections  for  the  com- 


164  JAMES  HALL 

parison  of  species  already  described,  I  have  been 
forced  to  depend  upon  my  own  resources  in  every 
department." 

By  M.  De  Verneuil's  visit  Hall  profited  greatly. 
He  was  a  delightful  and  great  hearted  gentleman, 
broad  in  sympathy  and  culture,  generous  of  disposi- 
tion and  most  modest  in  his  personality,  though  al- 
ways an  aristocrat.  Those  with  whom  he  came  in 
contact  long  kept  the  remembrance  of  his  personal 
charm  which  is  indicated  by  a  letter  to  Hall  from 
Henry  S.  Randall,  afterwards  Secretary  of  State 
for  New  York,  whom  De  Verneuil  had  visited  at  his 
home  in  Cortlandville,  and  therein  he  tells  of  how, 
on  their  trips  among  the  rocks,  they  mingled  their 
talks  on  geology  with  "  excursions  into  philosophy, 
poetry,  history  and  the  arts  of  France  and 
America."  The  distinguished  Frenchman  returned 
the  courtesies  he  had  received  from  Hall  by  making 
him  a  life  member  of  the  Geological  Society  of 
France.  When  he  received  the  first  volume  of  the 
"  Palaeontology "  his  enthusiastic  appreciation 
takes  this  expression: 

"  The  different  works  published  in  England  and  Germany 
are  not  constructed  with  the  simplicity  and  harmony  which 
pervades  yours.  In  some  respects  when  you  have  finished 
yours  you  will  be  more  advanced  in  America  than  we  are  in 
Europe  and  specially  you  will  have  a  more -easy  living  for 
the  future.  Everybody  will  disappear  before  your  royaute 
and  you  will  have  unity  in  science.  So  when  you  come 
here,  I  assure  you  a  triumphal  march  among  our  palaeontol- 
ogists." 


FRENCH  REVOLUTION,  1848        165 

Their  correspondence  continued  intimately  dur- 
ing the  years  when  De  Verneuil  was  occupied  in  his 
researches  in  Bohemia  and  Spain.  Here  follow  three 
of  his  letters  written  upon  the  outbreak  of  the  revo- 
lution of  February,  1848,  and  the  dethronement  of 
King  Louis  Philippe.  Their  lively  picture  of  condi- 
tions in  Paris  and  their  appeal  for  help  to  the  ideals 
of  the  American  Republic  give  them  historic  inter- 
est. They  are  printed  as  they  were  written. 

PARIS,  28  fevrier  1848 
MY  DEAR  FRIEND  — 

I  receive  just  now  your  kind  letter  of  the  last  29  January 
when  our  revolution  is  accomplished  3  days  and  all  our  insti- 
tutions have  been  overturned,  the  King  and  all  his  family 
is  expelled  and  the  f  rench  republic  is  everywhere  proclaimed. 
All  our  friends  must  tend  to  establish  a  solid  government 
but  we  are  at  a  want  to  know  which  institution  will  be  most 
convenient.  Everyone  agrees  that  we  shall  have  a  republican 
government  but  the  organic  institutions  upon  which  it  will 
be  founded  are  quite  in  a  dim  horizon  for  every  mind.  A 
great  number  are  frightened  by  the  institutions  of  1793. 
Our  old  republic  has  stained  itself  with  blood  and  instead 
of  giving  liberty  to  the  nation  it  has  given  despotism.  It  is 
not  certain  but  very  probable  that  the  same  institutions  will 
produce  the  same  results,  as  the  same  tree  produces  the  same 
fruits.  A  great  number  of  friends  of  mine  would  be  dis- 
posed to  try  here  the  american  constitution  which  is  conse- 
crated by  long  experience.  We  can  not  take  your  federal 
organization  but  we  would  give  to  france  the  institutions  of 
one  of  your  states,  for  instance  the  one  of  the  state  of  New 
York.  All  these  questions  will  be  discussed  in  our  next 


166  JAMES  HALL 

national  meeting  which  will  take  place  in  one  month.  Be 
good  enough  to  let  me  have  a  copy  of  the  present  constitution 
of  the  state  of  New  York  and  make  yourself  some  remarks 
on  the  changes  which  the  last  convention  has  afforded  to  the 
old  one.  Perhaps  your  old  constitution,  less  democratic 
than  the  present,  would  suit  us  better.  What  I  require 
from  you  as  the  most  important  thing  is  to  send  me  these 
documents  in  a  letter  by  the  next  steamer  after  the  reception 
of  the  present.  Otherwise  it  would  be  too  late.  [Here  fol- 
low long  discussions  of  species  of  fossils.] 

Pray,  my  dear  friend,  write  me  as  soon  as  possible  and 
in  sending  me  your  constitution  of  the  state  of  New  York 
or  an  abstract  of  the  most  important  points  be  good  enough 
to  join  some  reflexions  on  them,  the  result  of  your  medita- 
tion or  your  opinion  about  the  good  or  evil  of  your  consti- 
tution may  be  for  me  of  a  great  use.     I  must  conclude 
hastily  this  letter  and  I  am,  in  expecting  your  answer, 
Your  most  devoted  friend 
ED.  DE  VERNEUIL 

PARIS,  28  March  1848 
MY  DEAR  MR.  HALL  : 

A  friend  of  mine  is  going  away  for  America  and  waits 
for  my  letters.  I  have  but  a  moment  to  write  you  and  to 
express  to  you  my  thanks  for  your  beautiful  work,  which 
arrived  here  2  days  ago.  I  have  in  great  haste  sent  your 
volume  to  Mr.  de  Koninck  and  the  other  shall  be  presented 
next  week  to  the  .Geological  Society.  *  *  *  * 

My  friend  Mr.  Marcou  is  sent  by  our  National  Museum 
to  explore  the  rocky  mountains.  He  is  a  good  geologist  and 
a  very  kind  young  man.  I  have  no  doubt  that  he  will  pay 
you  a  visit.  He  will  narrate  to  you  all  the  great  events 
which  shake  the  whole  European  frame. 


DE  VERNEUIL'S  LETTERS          167 

The  society  is  quite  in  convulsion  and  God  knows  whether 
we  shall  have  again  the  prosperity  and  the  rapid  improve- 
ments of  our  old  state.  It  is  said  that  we  are  in  the  middle 
of  a  social  revolution  but  no  one  has  a  clear  perception  of 
what  is  to  be  done.  Meanwhile  we  are  going  back  of  your 
democratic  institutions.  Under  the  name  of  organization 
of  work  the  tendency  is  to  destroy  the  liberty  of  private 
industry  and  to  give  to  the  government  a  monstrous  monoply, 
the  monopoly  of  every  sort  of  industry.  What  a  nonsense! 
I  am  very  much  afraid  that  the  constitution  of  New  York 
will  not  be  of  great  use.  It  will  be  found  far  too  favorable 
to  order  and  not  enough  democratic.  Our  democrats  do  not 
wish  to  have  a  president  over  a  senate.  You  see  that  they 
go  much  farther  than  you  and  I  fear  by  that  reason  that 
they  will  never  give  us  any  regular  government  and  all  our 
liberties  will  be  destroyed.  *  *  * 
Believe  to  my  gratitude 

ED.  DE  VERNEUIL 

PARIS  27  November  1848 
MY  DEAR  MR.  HALL — : 

*  *  *  *  The  revolution  of  february  has  shaken  a 
little  my  fortune.  I  had  many  shares  in  our  railways  and 
some  of  them  are  reduced  to  zero.  For  instance  the  rail- 
way from  Orleans  to  Bordeaux  which  I  paid  300  franc  each 
share  is  reduced  to  12  franc.  However  these  private  losses 
are  not  so  sensible  for  me  as  the  public  calamity.  Every- 
thing goes  ill.  The  prospect  for  the  winter  is  very  sad  and 
civil  war  is  imminent.  The  low  classes  with  the  workmen 
of  the  great  towns  are  quite  excited  and  pretend  that  they 
must  govern  the  society  for  their  own  and  only  benefit.  The 
socialism,  or  the  war  against  any  man  of  property  is 
preached  in  all  the  clubs,  the  name  of  Robespierre  is  hailed 


168  JAMES  HALL 

with  applause  and  the  cries  vlve  la  guillotine  are  often 
proffered.  Two  parties,  the  socialists  or  communists  and  the 
montagnardes  proclaim  that  now  conies  the  end  of  the  old 
society  and  the  beginning  of  a  new  one,  not  modeled  upon 
the  american  society  but  upon  a  theoretical  type  where  there 
will  be  no  poor  nor  rich,  but  equal  people.  You  would  be 
astonished  how  Pierre  le  Roux  and  other  socialists  speak 
against  the  american  system  where  reigns  what  they  call  the 
aristocracy  of  money  or  Ploutocratie.  *  *  *  You  have 
no  idea  of  the  stagnation  of  the  products  of  the  commerce 
of  the  mind.  It  is  a  luxury  and  no  sort  of  luxury  would  be 
allowed  by  our  socialists.  *  *  *  I  assure  you  that  we 
have  the  greatest  apprehension.  If  Napoleon  is  elected 
President  there  will  be  a  civil  war  because  the  republicans 
have  excited  the  population  of  Paris  against  him.  In  such 
case  they  say  that  they  will  have  no  respect  for  the  universal 
suffrage. 

Believe  me,  your  most  sincere  friend 
ED.  DE  VERNEUIL 

More  momentous  for  Professor  Hall's  career 
was  the  coming  of  Louis  Agassiz.  No  advent  upon 
our  shores  ever  brought  with  it  so  far-reaching 
and  uplifting  an  influence  upon  natural  science. 
Agassiz,  in  the  prime  of  his  enthusiasm,  taught  in 
the  best  schools  of  Europe,  already  distinguished 
for  his  researches  in  zoology,  came  as  an  expounder 
of  the  philosophy  of  his  science,  primarily  to  de- 
liver the  Lowell  lectures  on  the  Plan  of  Creation. 
But  he  brought  with  him  the  hope  that  the  New 
World  would  open  out  to  him  a  larger  opportunity. 
These  active  studies  and  researches  in  Switzerland, 


LOUIS  AGASSI Z  169 

Germany  and  England  had  brought  him  no  secure 
income  and  in  plain  terms,  he  needed  money. 
Through  the  friendly  offices  of  Humboldt  he  had 
gained  the  financial  support  of  the  king  of  Prussia 
for  a  two  years'  trip  in  America  and  by  the  help  of 
Lyell's  influence  with  Mr.  Lowell,  he  secured  the 
highly  remunerative  lectures  at  the  Institute  in 
Boston.  For  a  long  time  his  friend,  Charles  Bona- 
parte, Prince  of  Canino,  the  American  ornitholo- 
gist, had  pleaded  with  him  to  come  over.  Not  only 
was  Agassiz  versed  in  all  the  branches  of  zoology ; 
he  had  written  a  monograph  on  the  Poissons  fos- 
siles  of  the  Old  Red  Sandstone  and  other  forma- 
tions ;  had  attained  eminent  distinction  for  his  stud- 
ies of  the  physics  of  the  Alpine  glaciers  in  which 
he  was  helped  by  Arnold  Guyot,  and  was,  in  fine,  of 
so  broad  appreciation  and  experience  as  to  be  di- 
rective in  many  fields.  Not  his  advent,  but  the  de- 
cision to  remain  was  after  all  the  real  significance 
of  this  episode.  Agassiz's  history,  his  influence,  his 
inspiration,  have  been  the  subject  of  many 
memorial  tributes;  his  biography  has  been  written 
more  than  once,  but  in  all  these  records  of  him 
little  appears  of  his  relations  with  Hall.  Indeed,  in 
Mrs.  Agassiz's  two  volume  "  Life  and  Corre- 
spondence," Professor  Hall's  name  appears  but 
once;  and  yet  here  is  a  shock  of  letters  which 
passed  between  the  two  and  cover  a  period  of  more 
than  twenty  years,  many  of  them  of  intimate  char- 


170  JAMES  HALL 

acter  and  some  of  unrecorded  worth  to  the  history 
of  American  science. 

Professor  Agassiz  arrived  at  Boston  in  Septem- 
ber, 1846,  and  as  his  lectures  did  not  begin  for  a 
couple  of  months,  he  made  his  way  to  Albany  by  as 
short  a  route  as  the  Boston  and  New  Haven  men 
would  permit.  His  reception  was  little  short  of  a 
furore;  his  coming  had  been  announced  again  and 
again  and  for  a  year  Silliman  had  been  telling  Hall 
of  the  date  of  his  arrival ;  in  the  autumn  of  1845,  in 
the  spring  of  1846.  When  he  did  get  here  he  made 
a  profound  impression,  not  alone  with  his  great 
stores  of  knowledge,  but  with  his  inviting  and 
gentle  personality,  to  which,  beyond  any  doubt,  his 
"  pretty  "  English,  as  Lady  Lyell  called  it,  added 
an  attractive  glamor.  Augustus  Gould  exclaims 
to  Hall  from  Boston:  "Agassiz!  Agassiz!  Wonder- 
ful !  Inspired !  Privileged  are  we  to  enjoy  his  in- 
struction and  his  example."  And  Benjamin  Silli- 
man, Senior,  his  host  in  New  Haven,  writes: 
"  Have  you  seen  Agassiz?  If  not,  I  can  promise 
you  a  rich  treat  in  him.  He  is  full  of  knowledge  on 
all  subjects  of  science,  imparts  it  in  the  most  grace- 
ful and  modest  manner  and  has,  if  possible,  more 
of  bonhomie  than  of  knowledge.  He  has  a  more 
minute  knowledge  of  his  subject  and  at  the  same 
time  a  more  wonderful  generalizing  power  and 
philosophical  tone  than  any  man  I  have  ever  met. 
He  spent  two  days  and  three  nights  with  us  here 


AGASSIZ'S  ARRIVAL  171 

at  my  house  and  it  is  not  yet  agreed  whether  the 
Ladies  more  liked  the  Man  or  the  Gentlemen  more 
admired  the  Philosopher." 

And  while  Silliman  was  writing  this,  Agassiz  was 
on  his  way  up  the  Hudson  to  Albany  where  lived 
Hall,  the  man  of  whom  Ije  had  heard  so  much  from 
Lyell,  Murchison  and  De  Verneuil,  and  where  was 
published  the  great  Natural  History  of  New  York ; 
"  2500  copies  of  a  work  in  sixteen  volumes  quarto  " 
he  exclaims  in  his  "  Letters,"  in  the  intervals  of  his 
delight  over  the  beauties  of  the  river,  "  scattered 
throughout  the  State  of  New  York  alone!  Whe,n 
I  think  that  I  began  my  studies  in  natural  history 
by  copying  hundreds  of  pages  from  a  Lamarck 
which  someone  had  lent  me,  and  that  today  there  is 
a  State  in  which  the  smallest  farmer  may  have  ac- 
cess to  a  costly  work  worth  to  him  a  library  in 
itself,  I  bless  the  efforts  of  those  who  devote  them- 
selves to  public  instruction." 

"  I  have  just  caught  the  big  fish  Agassiz,"  writes 
Professor  Bailey  from  the  West  Point  Military 
Academy,  whom  the  visitor  had  stopped  off  to  see, 
and  he  sends  on  word  that  he  hopes  "  to  pilot  this 
scientific  whale  "  to  Albany. 

In  the  introduction  of  his  Palaeontology,  Hall 
acknowledges  the  help  he  received  from  Agassiz's 
counsels  and  so,  notwithstanding  that  the  two  were 
men  of  widely  different  experiences,  Agassiz  in 
touch  with  all  that  was  being  done  in  his  world  and 


172  JAMES  HALL 

Hall,  as  he  has  said,  in  solitude  among  his  books 
and  specimens,  there  sprang  up  between  them 
at  once,  a  friendship  and  a  bond  of  helpfulness 
which,  as  we  may  see,  lifted  Hall  out  of  some  of 
the  sloughs  into  which  his  temperament  was  for- 
ever getting  him  and  which  would  have  precipi- 
tated Agassiz  into  like  places  had  he  been  less 
buoyant.  Shortly  after  Agassiz's  coming,  Edouard 
Desor  arrived  to  act  as  his  secretary  and  he  made 
up  in  some  measure  the  shortages  in  Agassiz's  geo- 
logical experience;  and  of  these  men  we  may  here 
take  only  this  preliminary  glimpse.  Their  active 
participation  in  this  history  belongs  to  other  chap- 
ters. 

Meanwhile  Ferdinand  Roemer  has  come  and 
gone,  1842.  Roemer  was  a  young  doctor  from 
Bonn,  out  for  his  wander-year  to  Texas  where  he 
spent  eighteen  months  in  pioneer  work  among  the 
Cretaceous  rocks.  He  wrote  his  book  7  which  was 
a  rather  pale  contribution  to  American  geology, 
but  his  real  interest  then  and  thereafter  lay  in  the 
study  of  the  palaeozoic  fossils  8,  a  field  of  knowl- 
edge to  which  he  succeeded  in  later  years  at 
Breslau,  making  uninspired  contributions,  without 
revealing  a  gleam  of  the  principles  or  philosophy 
of  his  science.  Roemer  came  to  Albany  and  under 

7  Chalk  Formation  of  Texas. 

8  Subsequently  he  published  a  work  on  the  Silurian  fossils  of 
western  Tennessee,  a  work  which  would  have  been  better,  if  less 
hastily  done. 


GEOLOGY  IN  VERMONT  173 

Hall's  guidance  greedily  assembled  the  New  York 
fossils  from  the  nearby  localities  of  the  Helder- 
bergs  and  Schoharie.  Thirty-eight  years  after,  we 
find  Roemer  urging  Hall  to  send  him  the  fossils 
that  he  collected  on  this  visit  to  Albany ! 

Before  we  close  the  record  of  this  period  there 
are  other  contacts  which  should  not  be  passed  over. 
After  the  end  of  the  Fourth  District  work,  Dr. 
E.  S.  Carr,  Hall's  field  assistant,  had  been  serving 
as  Professor  of  Physiology  in  the  Medical  College 
at  Castleton,  Vt,  and  in  1845  he  wanted  to  be  State 
Geologist  of  Vermont.  Emmons,  it  appears,  desired 
this  position.  Doctor  Carr  begged  for  Hall's 
endorsement.  Hall  was  in  a  quandary;  he  owed 
all  his  support  to  Carr,  but  would  have  been  very 
willing  to  have  Emmons  go  to  Vermont.  Beyond 
any  doubt  he  could  have  brought  about  a  decision 
of  the  matter  if  he  had  cared  to  venture,  but  this 
time  he  kept  out  of  the  contest  and,  perhaps  as  a 
result  Charles  B.  Adams,9  a  conchologist  of  great 
merit,  who  had  the  support  of  Professor  Edward 
Hitchcock  of  Amherst,  was  appointed.  Doctor 
Charles  T.  Jackson,  versatile,  ireful  and  "  diffi- 

*  Professor  Adams  did  not  bring  his  work  in  Vermont  to  full 
conclusion.  It  proved  too  arduous  for  his  delicate  physique  and  he 
retired  to  Amherst  where  he  took  over  the  Department  of  Natural 
History  and  Astronomy,  but  his  health  soon  made  it  imperative 
for  him  to  seek  a  milder  climate  and  he  passed  the  remaining  years 
of  his  life  in  Bermuda.  He  was  a  diligent  conchologist  and  a  great 
collector;  the  Adams  collection  of  recent  mollusks  has  long  been 
one  of  the  important  scientific  assets  of  Amherst  College. 


174  JAMES  HALL 

cult,"  was  also  a  disappointed  candidate  for  this 
position  and  was  unsparing  in  his  denunciation  of 
the  appointment,  the  appointee,  the  appointors,  the 
State  of  Vermont  and  the  State  of  Science  gener- 
ally; but  his  American  colleagues  were  used  to  his 
outbursts. 

When  Colonel  J.  C.  Fremont,  the  Pathfinder, 
returned  from  his  Exploring  Expedition  into  the 
remote  regions  of  Oregon  and  "  North  California  " 
he  brought  the  first  fossils  obtained  from  the  rocks 
of  that  distant  country.  All  that  he  had  managed 
to  save  when  fourteen  mules  with  their  loads  fell 
over  the  canyon  cliffs  and  such  of  the  remainder 
as  had  escaped  the  floods  of  the  Missouri,  came 
into  Professor  Hall's  hands  for  study  and  report, 
and  his  illustrated  observations,  published  in  1845 
in  connection  with  Fremont's  official  report,  are 
today  historically  important  as  the  first  records  of 
Mesozoic  life  from  the  far-away  Mountains  and 
Great  Plains. 

It  was  natural  now  that  every  movement  in  geo- 
logical science  in  the  country  should  come  close  to 
Hall.  His  prestige  was  very  great  and  still  in  the 
ascendant.  Whatever  these  movements  were,  in 
State  or  Nation,  they  sought  him  out,  or  if  they 
did  not,  he  sought  them  out,  for  he  was  quick  to  let 
no  opportunity  for  enlarging  his  knowledge,  his 
service,  his  control  and  his  collections  slip  by.  His 
knowledge  was  already  extensive  and  varied,  his 


GEOLOGY  IN  MISSISSIPPI          175 

service  of  great  worth  and  his  collections  of  fossils 
were  beyond  question  the  largest  and  best  in 
America;  indeed  his  series  of  palaeozoic  fossils 
probably  best  in  quality  and  variety  of  any  extant. 
In  1847,  some  of  the  citizens  of  Mississippi  had 
felt  the  lure  and  the  need  of  a  State  geological  sur- 
vey. Almost  simultaneously  Hall  received  letters 
from  two  citizens  in  different  parts  of  the  State, 
which  give  an  interesting  picture  of  how  this  scien- 
tific problem  presented  itself  to  the  Mississippians. 
M.  W.  Philips  of  Log  Hall,  Edwards,  writes  first  to 
Hall  in  care  of  Luther  Tucker,  of  Albany  (editor 
and  founder  of  the  Country  Gentleman),  to  the 
effect  that  a  few  citizens  were  intending  to  raise 
privately  a  subscription  —  "  $2,500  or  $5,000,  to  be 
placed  in  the  hands  of  one  or  more  trustees  for  the 
purpose  of  securing  the  services  of  the  best  geolo- 
gist that  can  be  procured,  the  amount  being  given 
him  as  a  bonus  to  serve  the  State/'  This  "  best 
geologist,"  it  is  very  emphatically  pointed  out, 
was  to  be  a  gentleman,  and  was  to  make  what  he 
could  out  of  the  provision,  though  the  hope  was 
expressed  that  he  would  be  content  with  the  smaller 
sum.  It  was  not  very  clear  to  the  writer  just  what 
a  geological  survey  might  involve  but  it  was 
thought  that  it  should  be  sufficiently  agricultural  to 
include  by  counties,  a  statement  of  the  number  of 
acres  in  cotton,  corn,  oats  and  potatoes ;  "  how 
many  slaves,  how  many  negro  children  born,  pro- 


176  JAMES  HALL 

portion  of  sexes  and  ages  on  each  plantation ;  num- 
ber of  horses,  brood  mares,  colts  reared,"  etc.,  etc. ; 
"  in  short,  every  species  of  information." 

Directly  follows  a  letter  from  the  Rev.  R. 
Morris,  of  Mount  Sylvan  Academy,  principal  and 
postmaster,  (now  College  Hill,  Lafayette  county) 
who  tells  of  his  plan  to  give  a  course  of  lectures  on 
geology  "  by  appointment "  to  the  legislature,  and 
he  seeks  Hall's  aid  and  publications.  To  these  two 
approaches,  one  from  the  south  and  one  from  the 
north  of  the  State,  Hall  brightens  at  once  and  to 
both,  each  obviously  unknown  to  the  other. 

Both,  in  their  replies,  are  suffused  with  patriotic 
enthusiasm.  Says  M.  W.  Philips: 

"  The  South,  my  native  home,  my  own  Sunny  South,  can 
not,  in  all  her  lovely  clime  show  a  better  specimen  of  a 
Southerner  than  I  take  you  to  be.  Understand  I  am  a  native 
born  South  Carolinian  and  have  all  the  pride  of  State  that 
any  of  these  have.  I  have  no  money,  no  talents,  but  I  have 
better  than  all  [it  appears  from  the  letter  that  he  was  laid 
up  with  inflammatory  rheumatism],  a  fond  inspiration  to  do 
something  for  the  good  of  our  race;  and  though  a  South- 
erner, though  a  Mississippian,  though  a  citizen  of  this  bank- 
rupt State,  a  repudiator  and  one  proud  of  being  all  this,  yet 
I  would  not  for  my  right  arm,  endeavor  to  build  up  my  State 
at  the  downfall  or  prejudice  of  another.  I  am  a  Southerner 
of  no  clime,  a  citizen  of  the  U.  S.  without  a  local  habitation 
when  the  amelioration  of  my  race  is  concerned." 

These  "  highf  alutin  "  sentiments  with  their  agri- 
cultural preface  did  not  impress  Hall;  but  mean- 


MISSISSIPPIANS  OF  1847  177 

while  Mr.  Morris  shows  how  cleverly  a  plan  for  a 
State  Geological  Survey  had  been  instigated  and 
developed  between  Mount  Sylvan  and  Albany : 

"  The  State  election  comes  on  next  week,"  writes  Mr. 
Morris.  "  We  are  prepared  to  send  to  each  Member  for  the 
Legislature  who  is  elected  a  notification  of  his  election  to  an 
honorary  membership  in  our  State  Geological  Society,  and 
shall  follow  it  up  with  such  circulars,  newspaper  publica- 
tions etc.,  as  may  be  needed  to  give  them  a  little  insight  into 
the  importance  of  geology  to  State  interests.  By  this  means 
they  will  be  likely  to  be  worked  upon  somewhat  favorably. 
The  Governor  is  to  speak  pointedly  on  the  subject  in  his 
message  and  certain  influential  Gentlemen  will  then  use  their 
lobby  influence  (no  trifle  in  this  country)  to  get  an  appropri- 
ation for  a  Survey.  We  who  know  Mississippians,  think 
that  we  can  effect  the  object  by  these  plans." 

"And  now,  my  dear  sir,  supposing  that  we  succeed,  will 
you  come  down  with  the  presage  [ !]  of  your  name  and  your 
enterprise  and  science  and  let  us  make  it  a  useful  thing? 
Can  you  come  in  advance  of  our  success  and  deliver  an 
address  ?  But  you  fear  that  would  look  like  soliciting  office 
and  you  Northerners  are  very  sensitive  about  that !  *  *  * 

"This  letter  shall  be  confidential  or  if  you  are  a  Free- 
mason (as  I  hope  you  are,  for  every  clever  fellow  here  is 
one),  on  the  square.  It  is  quite  likely  that  Professor  Tuomey 
will  be  spoken  of,  but  we  want  you  and  we  will  carry  the  day 
or  it  shall  go  hard  with  them." 

It  all  came  to  naught.  The  promise  was  too 
unsubstantial  for  Hall  and  Dr.  Merrill  has  pointed 
out  that  the  combination  which  ensued  between 
State  and  University  was  not  helpful  to  a  knowl- 
edge of  Mississippi  geology. 
12 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  PALAEONTOLOGY  OF  NEW  YORK 
THE  PERIOD  OF  VOLUME  11-1847-1852 

1 

Appreciation  of  Volume  I  —  Troubles  and  anxieties  — 
Plans  to  leave  Albany  —  Defense  of  his  work  —  Qual- 
ity of  Volume  II  —  Intimacy  with  Agassiz  —  American 
Geological  Museum  —  Agassiz  lectures  at  Albany  — 
Influence  of  the  Scientific  Survey  —  University  of 
Albany  —  Its  organization  —  Scientific  Faculty  —  Poly- 
technic School  in  New  York  —  A  National  University 
—  Collapse  of  the  University  of  Albany  —  Dudley  Ob- 
servatory—  Albany  Law  School. 

PROFESSOR  HALL  had  now  finished  his  first 
volume  of  the  Palaeontology  and  got  his 
momentum.  He  had  created  a  new  kind  of 
book  for  America,  and  had  entered  with  un- 
exampled elaboration  upon  a  new  field.  Compli- 
ments and  congratulations  came  in  from  all  sides. 
The  Boston  coterie,  Gould,  Agassiz,  Horsford, 
Bouve  and  Getting  were  full  of  intimate  applause 
and  so  were  his  working  colleagues  in  geology,  the 
Sillimans,  the  Rogerses,  Samuel  G.  Morton,  Halde- 
man,  Jacob  W.  Bailey  the  expert  student  of  infu- 
soria at  the  West  Point  Military  Academy.  More 
even  than  these  assurances  of  labor  well  done,  the 

[178] 


STANDING  IN  HIS  STATE          179 

honor  which  Hall  had  brought  to  the  State  elicited 
for  him  the  active  support  of  many  of  its  very 
influential  citizens.  Thomas  W.  Olcott,  president 
of  one  of  the  Albany  banks  and  always  an  active 
promoter  of  the  intellectual  life  of  the  Capital, 
speaks  of  him  as  a  "  prince  in  his  profession  "  and 
adds  "  I  am  assured  by  an  intelligent  gentleman 
who  has  just  returned  from  abroad  that  there  is  no 
geologist  in  this  country,  whose  writings  are  more 
eagerly  sought  for,  or  whose  opinions  have  greater 
weight  throughout  Europe  than  Prof.  Hall's."  He 
inspired  Ledyard  Lincklaen,  a  wealthy  and  influ- 
ential citizen  of  Cazenovia,  and  Henry  S.  Randall, 
afterward  the  Secretary  of  State,  with  intense  zeal 
for  collecting  fossils.  Indeed  his  work  seems  to 
have  lifted  the  veil  for  a  new  and  fascinating 
scientific  diversion  and  palaeontology  was  now  pur- 
sued con  amore  in  intellectual  centers  all  about  the 
country.1  The  first  volume  of  the  Palaeontology 
was  a  wedge  well  entered  now,  but  Hall  was  to 
find  that  it  was  still  hard  to  drive,  and  in  getting 
his  work  so  well  under  weigh  he  had  also  acquired, 
through  high  pressure  and  the  anxieties  of  a 


1  The  "  North  Country,"  the  region  skirting  the  Adirondacks,  was 
specially  fruitful  in  the  fossils  of  the  "  Lower  Rocks "  and  pro- 
duced many  vigorous  collectors,  both  men  and  women.  A  physician 
well  known  in  his  locality  caught  cold  on  one  of  his  collecting  trips 
and  died.  His  widow  writes  to  Hall :  "Alas,  his  zeal  in  scientific 
work  cost  him  his  life,  leaving  his  widow  and  children  without  a 
head."  Palaeontology  is  indeed  at  times  a  two-edged  sword! 


180  JAMES  HALL 

slender  income,  a  set  of  overstrained  and  jangling 
nerves.  And  some  of  the  comments  of  his  col- 
leagues had  their  reservations.  He  had  accom- 
plished a  quite  extraordinary  feat  in  the  mechanical 
treatment  of  the  book,  for  the  drawings  of  his  fos- 
sils were  made  by  Mrs.  Hall  and  her  sister  Mrs. 
Brooks,  who  understood  their  subjects,  and  the 
plates  had  been  rendered  in  lithography  of  a  very 
good  quality  as  lithography  went  in  those  days. 
But  Silliman  tells  him  his  lithographs  are  utterly 
bad  and  not  to  be  compared  with  the  illustrations 
of  some  of  the  recent  European  works.  Silliman 
was  rather  rude  but  his  corrective  was  timely,  and 
Hall,  sensitive  to  all  but  praise,  immediately  betook 
himself  to  Agassiz  who  had  conducted  a  litho- 
graphic establishment  in  Switzerland  and  now  pro- 
posed to  bring  over  for  Hall's  service  one  of  his 
own  workmen,  Sonrel,  whose  exquisite  workman- 
ship added  much  distinction  to  Agassiz's  own  pub- 
lications. Failing  here  and  despairing  of  any  im- 
provement in  lithography,  after  many  tribulations 
over  it  Hall  determined  that  for  his  new  volume 
the  plates  should  be  engraved  on  steel ;  and,  for  the 
most  part  they  were.  This  rendering  vastly  im- 
proved their  quality  but  enhanced  their  cost.  But 
before  he  had  got  so  far  along  as  this  Hall,  with 
all  his  nerves  thrumming,  was  for  abandoning  the 
whole  undertaking.  First  he  thought  of  accepting 
a  professorship  in  the  University  of  Alabama, 


VAGARIOUS  PROJECTS  181 

which  had  come  his  way;  then  he  would  like  to  be 
State  Geologist  of  Kentucky,  and  presently  he  had 
a  severe  attack  of  the  gold  fever  and  would  join 
the  "  forty-niners  "  in  California.  He  appealed  to 
Joseph  Henry  for  appointment  as  geologist  on 
a  proposed  United  States  Exploring  Expedition 
to  California.  Henry  replies  (December,  1848) 
that  there  is  not  to  be  any,  but  that  Lieutenant 
Gillis  is  going  to  Chile  on  an  Astronomical  Expe- 
dition and  thinks  he  might  get  for  Hall  the  posi- 
tion of  Naturalist.  In  a  postscript  Professor 
Henry  adds  that  he  is  informed  by  the  Hon.  Butler 
King 2  "  that  a  geologist  will  be  sent  out  with  sur- 
veying parties  for  the  purpose  of  making  an  explo- 
ration of  the  Aleutian  Islands  for  the  discovery,  if 
possible,  of  any  coal  fields  which  may  exist  along 
the  route  to  Japan  " ;  and  suggests  that  Hall  might 
like  to  go  along  in  that  capacity. 

He  would  have  none  of  these  things  and  his 
letters  to  Lyell,  Agassiz,  Horsford  and  his  other 
correspondents  are  full  of  melancholy  ululations 
and  elicit  sympathy  in  plenty  except  from  his  Bos- 
ton friends,  Gould  and  Kendall,  who  lecture  him 
without  mincing  words  and  help  to  bring  him  to 
his  senses  again. 

"  Dismiss  your  California  schemes "  writes 
Augustus  A.  Gould.  "  Determine  at  once,  live  or 

•T.  Butler  King,  then  Representative  in  Congress  from  Georgia, 
was  a  member  of  the  Naval  Committee. 


182  JAMES  HALL 

die,  to  stick  to  your  Palaeontology  until  completed. 
This  you  owe  to  your  own  fame,  to  New  York 
State,  to  science  and  to  us  all."  Hall  had  no  other 
intention.  Horsford  tells  him  that  if  he  goes  so 
far  away  he  will  lessen  his  chance  of  a  call  to  Cam- 
bridge and  thinks  that  the  completion  of  his  "  Silu- 
rian System  would  be  glory  enough  for  one  man." 
Many  of  his  doings  were  vastly  comical.  He 
wanted  possession  of  a  back  room  in  the  Old  State 
Hall,  where  he  could  open  up  his  boxes  of  speci- 
mens, but  he  could  not  get  it  as  it  was  occupied  by 
Mr.  Gebhard,  custodian  of  the  State  Cabinet,  and 
Dr.  Beck,  as  secretary  of  the  Board  of  Regents  in 
charge,  refused  to  give  it  up.  Whereupon  Hall 
indites  a  letter  to  Senator  Nelson  J.  Beach,  of  four 
finely  written  quarto  pages  in  which  he  states  the 
case  and  then  calls  heaven  and  earth  to  witness  that 
he  is  a  much  abused  man;  scolds  the  Regents, 
declares  that  an  effort  is  being  made  to  get  rid  of 
him,  and  then  audaciously  and  with  most  unac- 
customed vanity  for  him,  declares  that  "  The  State 
of  New  York  is  publishing  a  work  on  the  Natural 
History  of  her  territory  which  is  exciting  more 
attention  at  home  and  abroad  than  all  else  she  has 
ever  done.  The  man  who  laid  the  foundation  of 
this  work  has  earned  for  himself  a  reputation  un- 
dying " ;  and  he  then  precipitates  himself :  "  Let 
me  cite  a  single  case  "  he  says ;  "  While  Professor 


HALL  EXPLODES  183 

Agassiz  remained  in  Neufchatel  every  eye  was 
directed  there  to  learn  from  him,  as  the  master, 
what  were  the  laws,  the  facts  and  the  results  in 
most  departments  of  zoology.  The  collections  of 
Neufchatel  bore  the  stamp  of  authority  and  the 
place,  though  comparatively  an  obscure  one,  was 
the  center  of  advancement  in  science.  Professor 
Agassiz  is  no  longer  at  Neufchatel  but  at  Harvard 
University  and  where  now  does  the  world  look  for 
the  advancement  of  natural  history  and  the  pro- 
mulgation of  laws  before  unknown?  Not  to  Neuf- 
chatel but  to  Harvard  University  where  science  is 
to  take  the  lead  of  all  the  world.  Now,  sir,  New 
York  has  made  progress  in  all  the  sciences  but  in 
geology  she  stands  preeminent  and  her  localities 
will  be  classic  ground  for  centuries  to  come.  But 
the  sceptre  may  depart  and  I  say  unhesitatingly 
that  the  course  likely  to  be  pursued  [by  the  legisla- 
ture] will  prevent  any  further  progress  and  in  all 
probability  New  York  will  be,  fifty  years  hence, 
just  where  she  now  stands,  while  Science  will  have 
made  mighty  strides  and  the  vantage  ground  she 
now  holds  will  be  given  up;  indeed,  thrown  away 
from  mere  ignorance  and  ill-nature."  (Letter  of 
November  20,  1849.) 

The  Senator  was  impressed,  not  offended.  He 
wrote  reassuringly  and  thereupon  Hall  tells  him 
boldly  how  he  violated  his  contract  with  Governor 


184  JAMES  HALL 

Bouck  "  for  the  better  service  of  Science  " ;  glee- 
fully declares  that  the  Legislature  encouraged  him 
in  doing  so  and  then  gives  a  detailed  estimate  of 
the  number  of  quarto  plates  of  illustrations  he 
would  require  to  complete  the  Palaeontology.  This 
number,  he  pointed  out  with  some  argument  and 
detail,  would  be  250.  The  number  actually  made 
in  the  completion  of  the  work  was  770. 

I  think  the  condition  of  Hall's  nerves  is  regis- 
tered in  the  quality  of  his  work  at  this  time. 
Volume  II,  which  was  the  equal  in  size  of  Volume 
I  and  of  superior  mechanical  treatment,  is  not  as 
acute  and  thorough  an  analysis  of  his  subject. 
Indeed,  it  is  obviously  conventional  in  its  descrip- 
tive matter  and  is  lacking  in  the  broader  discus- 
sions which  added  much  of  worth  to  the  first  book. 
It  has  always  seemed  to  me  as  though  its  distin- 
guished author  set  to  himself  the  prescription  of 
describing  at  least  one  species  before  breakfast  and 
one  before  going  to  bed,  leaving  the  rest  of  the 
day  for  what  we  may  euphemistically  call  "  playing 
on  his  harp  of  a  thousand  strings."  I  would  not 
intimate  that  this  second  volume,  which  was  de- 
voted to  an  account  of  the  extinct  life  of  the  Silu- 
rian System  in  New  York  —  the  Oneida,  Medina, 
Clinton,  Niagara  and  Guelph  formations,  was  not 
an  extraordinary  production.  It  was.  It  was  again 
a  pioneer  work,  the  first  unveiling  of  the  life  pano- 


HIS  SECOND  VOLUME  185 

rama  of  the  true  Silurian.3  It  was  comprehensive 
and  perhaps  even  more  exhaustive  and  complete  in 
its  record  than  its  predecessor.  The  beautiful  fos- 
sils of  the  Niagara  group  were  delineated  with 
minute  accuracy  and  few  more  magnificent  illus- 
trations of  such  objects  have  been  presented  than 
his  wonderful  figure  of  the  great  Niagara  trilobite, 
Platynotus  Boltoni.  No  one  since  has  written  an 
equal  or  similar  book  on  this  theme  for  the  reason 
that  none  has  been  needed.  As  Agassiz  wrote,  "  It 
must  be  indispensable  to  all  our  geologists  as  long 
as  our  Silurian  rocks  exist."  I  recall,  when,  in 
1894,  the  thirteenth  and  last  of  all  the  volumes  of 
this  Palaeontology  of  New  York  was  finished,  Pro- 
fessor Hall  saying:  "For  many  years  I  have 
wanted  to  revise  my  Volume  I,  so  much  has  been 
added  to  our  knowledge  of  these  early  faunas  " — 
and  at  83  years  of  age  he  seriously  wished  me  to 
plan  the  revision  of  a  work  he  had  completed  57 
years  before!  But  he  never  made  such  comment 
regarding  the  volume  on  the  Silurian,  for  the  excel- 
lent reason  that  there  was  no  occasion  for  it. 

We  have  intimated  that  the  beginning  of  Hall's 
acquaintance  with  Agassiz  was  the  entry  into  a 
new  and,  as  it  proved,  active  and  influential  sphere 

*  The  title  in  full  was :  Palaeontology  of  New  York,  Volume  II. 
Containing  Descriptions  of  the  Organic  Remains  of  the  Lower 
Middle  Division  of  the  New  York  System  (Equivalent  in  Part  to 
the  Middle  Silurian  Rocks  of  Europe). 


186  JAMES  HALL 

In  a  manly  way  they  fell  in  love  with  each  other 
from  their  first  days  together  in  Albany,  to  which 
we  have  already  referred.  Hall  had  a  compensa- 
tion of  knowledge  which  Agassiz  lacked  and 
needed  and  Agassiz  in  even  greater  measure  con- 
tributed to  make  Hall  more  proficient  in  his  own 
science.  Both  were  high-minded  men  of  the  most 
generous  impulses,  with  hearts  set  without  reserve 
in  service  to  science.  To  Hall's  minor  key  Agassiz 
set  a  harmony  of  genuine  fraternity.  Agassiz's 
first  letter  after  his  return  to  Cambridge  from' 
Albany  says: 

"Will  you  excuse  me  for  not  having  written  sooner  as 
I  ought  to  have  done?  But  if  you  consider  the  excitement 
into  which  a  foreign  naturalist  is  necessarily 'carried  by  see- 
ing every  day  so  many  things  entirely  new  to  him,  you  will 
easily  understand  how  difficult  it  is  for  him  to  command  his 
time.  Since  I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  you  in  Albany, 
and  delightful  days  they  were,  I  have  scarcely  had  a  moment's 
leisure,  the  market  supplying  me  daily  with  fishes  and  fowls 
of  all  kinds  and  the  demonstration  occupying  all  my  time 
besides. 

"  I  anticipate  very  great  pleasure  and  instruction  from  my 
next  visit  to  Albany  when  I  expect  to  stay  some  time  with 
you.  As  I  have  only  delivered  a  few  of  my  lectures  I  am 
not  yet  able  to  say  how  far  I  shall  be  able  to  repeat  them  this 
winter  for  fear  of  undertaking  more  than  can  be  consistent 
with  my  own  scientific  researches,  but  as  soon  as  I  have  gone 
through,  I  shall  let  you  know.  Could  you  in  the  mean  time 
tell  me  what  kind  of  trouble  it  would  give  me  to  arrange 
such  a  course  of  lectures  in  Albany?"  (September  20, 
1846). 


AGASSIZ'S  LETTERS  187 

Soon  again  he  writes  (Dec.  29,  1846): 

"  You  can  easily  imagine  by  my  deficient  English  that 
my  lectures  give  me  much  trouble  and  make  me  lose  much 
time,  nevertheless  I  am  happy  to  see  that  the  people  here 
are  pleased  with  them  and  attend  in  great  number  very 
regularly,  so  that  I  have  in  this  respect  every  reason  to  be 
highly  satisfied.  The  one  which  might  perhaps  interest  you 
most  is  that  on  "  Geographical  Distribution  of  Animals " 
which  I  shall  repeat  the  last  evening,  next  Monday  fort- 
nightly. The  three  next  before  the  last  will  be  on  the  "  Suc- 
cessive Introduction  of  Species  in  Geological  Times."  It 
would  give  me  the  greatest  pleasure  to  see  you  here  at  that 
time  or  at  any  other  time,  and  at  all  events  again  in  Albany 
when  I  anticipate  much  instruction  from  Geological  excur- 
sions with  you." 

The  Albany  lecture  was  to  come,  with  what 
results  we  shall  presently  see.  Meanwhile  in  1847 
Agassiz  had  accepted  the  Professorship  of  Zool- 
ogy and  Geology  in  the  Lawrence  Scientific  School. 
"  It  is  obvious,"  says  Horsford  to  Hall,  "  that  the 
professorship  was  created  for  him."  "  The  Pro- 
fessor is  well  and  busy  as  ever,"  writes  Gould  later 
in  the  year,  "  too  busy  I  fear  to  render  the  realiza- 
tion of  my  hopes  to  produce  a  book  speedily  very 
encouraging  [Agassiz  and  Gould,  Principles  of 
Zoology].  He  has  commenced  a  course  of  lectures 
on  the  Alps  and  their  phenomena  and  has  a 
crowded  hall.  We  intend  that  he  shall  pocket 
$1000  by  it." 


188  JAMES  HALL 

These  two  men,  Agassiz  and  Hall,  had  not  long 
had  their  aspiring  heads  together  than  great  pro- 
jects began  to  develop.  Agassiz,  now  fortified  in 
his  new  professorship  and  alert  for  every  oppor- 
tunity to  develop  his  visions,  projected  at  once  a 
National  Geological  Museum  at  Cambridge,  and 
as  Hall  had  what  was  then  probably  the  largest 
geological  collection  in  the  United  States,  he  was 
to  take  his  collection  to  Cambridge  and  go  with  it 
to  a  professorship  in  the  College.  Professor  Hall, 
always  in  financial  straits  because  he  spent  too 
much  money  in  swelling  his  collection,  had  repeat- 
edly tried  to  borrow  and  to  sell,  indeed  he  is  con- 
stantly soliciting  aid  of  his  friends  for  the  one 
purpose  or  the  other,  and  the  suggestion  from 
Agassiz  that  he  would  raise  money  to  buy  it  for 
Cambridge  seemed  at  once  to  solve  some  of  his 
troubles  and  lighten  his  spirits.  The  thought,  too, 
of  going  over  to  Cambridge  to  join  the  brilliant 
coterie  now  gathering  there  was  dazzling.  So  Hall 
listened  intently. 

Horsford  writes  in  March  (1847)  that  he  and 
Agassiz  are  trying  to  induce  Mr.  John  A.  Lowell 
to  furnish  money  for  the  double  purpose,  and 
Agassiz  has  already  written  to  him  (January 
1848)  :  "  I  feel  happy  to  be  able  to  tell  you  that  in 
considering  the  plan  of  an  '  American  Geological 
Museum  '  I  have  not  the  slightest  selfish  view, 
neither  for  me  or  for  any  of  my  friends  and  if  the 


AMERICAN  GEOLOGICAL  MUSEUM    189 

matter  could  be  arranged  so  as  to  induce  you  to 
leave  Albany  and  to  be  connected  with  the  College, 
I  would  with  all  my  heart  concur  in  the  plan.  And 
if  such  a  Museum  be  founded  and  you  are  inclined 
to  lay  such  a  broad  foundation  for  its  future 
increase,  no  one  will  be  more  ready  to  secure  to 
you  all  the  credit  you  will  deserve  in  devoting  your 
attention  to  it.  Let  me  add,  to  be  fair  in  every 
point,  that  I  had  also  thought  of  mentioning  Mr. 
Dana  as  one,  if  connected  with  the  College,  who 
would  contribute  to  increase  its  lustre.  I  thank 
you  for  your  confidence  and  openness.  Let  scien- 
tific men  be  straightforward  and  they  will  conquer 
fully  the  esteem  of  the  public  and  be  better  able  to 
guard  the  great  work  of  civilisation  which  is 
entrusted  to  their  care!' 

This  splendid  project  for  an  American  Geo- 
logical Museum  which  was  to  bring  together  in 
Cambridge  the  superlative  geological  talent  of  the 
country,  determined  herewith.  Agassiz  was  deal- 
ing with  a  man  who,  though  gravely  tempted  by 
the  dazzling  prospect  of  distinguished  association, 
of  honor  with  peace  and  compensative  ease,  never, 
in  the  bottom  of  his  heart,  entertained  the  slightest 
intention  of  leaving  Albany  and  his  Palaeontology 
of  New  York.  Hall's  experience  in  later  years, 
amongst  his  oft  recorded  lamentations  that  he  had 
not  gone  here  or  there  or  responded  to  some  other 
alluring  invitation  that  would  have  divorced  him 


190  JAMES  HALL 

entirely  from  New  York;  these  show  that  wild 
horses  could  not  have  dragged  him  from  his  work. 
His  battlefields  were  his  glory;  the  smell  of  them 
was  in  his  nostrils  and  he  loved  the  fray  which 
brought  him  the  joys  of  victory. 

Knowing  all  this,  conscious  of  his  powers  and 
his  repute,  as  well  as  of  the  standing  which  Albany, 
the  seat  of  New  York  State  Science,  had  acquired, 
there  were  other  and  deeper  purposes  buried  in  his 
thoughts. 

In  the  spring  of  1848,  Hall  endeavored  to  induce 
the  Young  Men's  Association  of  Albany  to  arrange 
a  course  of  lectures  by  Agassiz,  but  the  arrange- 
ment did  not  go  through  very  successfully  and  only 
one  lecture  was  provided  for.  Somewhat  mortified 
at  this  treatment,  Hall  went  out  among  the  men 
who  stood  for  the  intellectual  life  of  the  city  — 
Thomas  W.  Olcott,  Ezra  P.  Prentice,  Justice 
Amasa  J.  Parker,  Judge  Greene  C.  Bronson,  Amos 
Dean,  Luther  Tucker,  Dr.  James  M.  Armsby  and 
others,  and  with  their  support  provided  at  once  for 
a  course  of  five  lectures  by  Professor  Agassiz, 
which  were  enthusiastically  given  and  received. 
This  was  not  a  mere  exchange  of  courtesies  on  the 
part  of  Hall.  He  did  indeed  go  over  to  Cambridge 
and  give  his  "  Harvard  Address,"  but  it  was  obvi- 
ously not  a  great  success  and  he  himself  speaks  of 
it  as  "  my  dying  speech."  Meanwhile,  as  Hall 
would  not  go  to  Agassiz  and  Cambridge,  he  was, 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ALBANY          191 

with  Agassiz  as  a  text,  talking  to  the  Albany  people 
of  this  great  intellectual  center  that  had  risen  about 
the  Natural  History  Survey,  the  possibility  of 
bringing  Agassiz  to  Albany  with  a  faculty  of  lead- 
ing men  of  science  which  in  conjunction  with  the 
Medical  School,  long  established  and  successful, 
and  with  the  powerful  influence  in  agriculture 
wielded  by  Luther  Tucker  through  his  paper  "  The 
Country  Gentleman,"  should  constitute  the  essen- 
tials of  a  great  University.  Little  by  little  the 
leaven  wrought;  interviews  led  to  conferences 
among  these  men  and  conferences  to  open  meet- 
ings, until  the  University  idea  took  firm  hold  and 
concrete  form.  News  of  the  project  got  abroad, 
excited  widespread  interest  in  other  centers  of  edu- 
cation and  presently,  indeed,  no  little  emulation. 

During  the  summer  and  autumn  months  of  1850 
correspondence  was  lively  over  the  selection  of  men 
for  the  scientific  faculty.  As  early  as  January, 
1851,  Amos  Dean  sends  to  Hall  notice  of  "  a  meet- 
ing of  the  professors  of  the  University  of  Albany 
at  the  house  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Mandeville,"  and  we 
may  assume  that  there  convened  in  response  to  this 
notice,  with  Professor  Hall,  Professor  George  H. 
Cook,  then  principal  of  the  Albany  Academy  and 
afterward  to  be  the  State  Geologist  of  New  Jersey, 
Doctor  Ebenezer  Emmons,  "  Professor  of  Ob- 
stetrics and  Natural  History  [!],"  and  Doctor 
Lewis  C.  Beck,  Professor  of  Chemistry  and  Phar- 


192  JAMES  HALL 

macy,  both  of  the  Albany  Medical  School;  with 
Judges  Ira  Harris  and  Amasa  J.  Parker,  repre- 
senting the  new  Department  of  Law,  and  appar- 
ently Professor  Agassiz  had  come  over  from  Cam- 
bridge to  address  this  meeting.  No  time  was  lost 
in  incorporating  the  new  university  and  the  "  Act 
to  Incorporate  the  University  of  Albany"  passed 
the  legislature,  April  17,  1851.4 

It  was  to  be  an  institution  "  for  the  purpose  of 
promoting  literature  and  science  " — "  literature  " 
standing  first  though  it  fails  to  be  indicated  in  any 
subsequent  public  papers  unless  it  was  absorbed 
into  and  implied  by  the  department  of  "  law."5 

Meanwhile  correspondence  went  on  over  the 
organization  of  the  scientific  faculty,  accompanied 
by  the  effort  to  raise  money  for  the  project. 
Agassiz  is  in  grave  earnest  even  to  the  length  of 
sacrifice.  He  writes  under  date  of  August  3: 

4  The  trustees  of  the  university  named  in  the  Act  of  Incorpora- 
tion were  forty-nine  in  number,  all  substantial  professional  and  busi- 
ness men  of  Albany,  a  multitude  who  held  high  the  intellectual 
prestige  of  the  State.  Among  these  men  may  be  mentioned  Judge 
Bronson  and  Ezra  P.  Prentice,  strong  friends  of  Hall  and  Hors- 
ford;  Judge  Ira  Harris,  Justice  Parker  (who  was  to  preside  at  the 
trial  of  Agassiz).,  Robert  H.  Pruyn,  James  Kidd,  Rufus  H.  King, 
Christopher  Y.  Lansing,  Thomas  W.  Olcott,  George  Dawson,  Luther 
Tucker  and  Nicholas  Hill. 

"  The  syllogism'  is  an  easy  one :  The  university  was  chartered  to 
promote  literature  and  science  only ;  it  did  promote  "  law" ;  "  law  " 
is  certainly  not  science,  indeed  alpha  lyrae  is  not  more  remote; 
therefore  "  law-"  is  literature. 


AGASSIZ  ON  THE  UNIVERSITY     193 

"  You  know  how  my  whole  soul  is  bent  upon  the  project 
of  an  American  University  and  what  sacrifices  I  am  ready  to 
make  if  I  can  contribute  to  bring  it  .about  in  any  way.  You 
know,  however,  also  how  limited  my  means  are,  since  I 
have  always  been  unwilling  to  devote  any  more  of  my  time 
to  other  labors  except  scientific  original  investigations  than 
is  strictly  necessary  for  sustaining  my  family  and  carrying 
on  my  researches.  You  know  I  have  done  this  to  such  an 
extent  as  never  to  have  before  me  in  advance  even  the  means 
of  living  for  one  single  year.  Now  the  winter  season  ap- 
proaches and  I  must  make  sure  of  my  budget.  How  does 
the  plan  in  Albany  stand  and  what  have  I  to  expect  from 
the  Trustees  ?  This  is  a  question  which  I  have  not  yet  asked 
and  which  I  would  not  have  asked  before  the  meeting  were 
it  not  for  a  proposition  which  has  just  been  made  to  me  and 
which  I  feel  bound  to  accept  until  the  plans  of  our  Univer- 
sity are  so  matured  as  to  secure  success.  A  subscription  has 
been  raised  in  Charleston,  S.  C.  by  the  friends  of  the  Medical 
College  to  offer  me  $2,000  a  year  for  four  successive  years, 
on  condition  of  my  delivering  during  my  winter  vacation  a 
course  of  lectures  on  comparative  anatomy  to  the  medical 
students  of  that  institution.  Are  the  prospects  in  Albany 
such  that  I  can  be  justified  in  refusing  such  a  proposition? 
I  would  repeat  that  there  is  no  reasonable  sacrifice  which 
I  am  not  ready  to  make  for  the  establishment  of  an  Ameri- 
can University,  or  an  institution  which  would  assume  such 
a  character  as  to  supply  the  want  under  whatever  title  it 
be ;  but  as  I  have  already  said  in  Albany  before  the  Trustees 
of  the  University,  it  cannot  be  expected  that  private  individ- 
uals should  bear  the  risk  of  such  an  undertaking.  It  would 
be  just  as  reasonable  to  expect  that  common  schools  were 
provided  for  by  the  teachers  themselves. 
13 


194  JAMES  HALL 

I  wish  you  would  see  Mr.  Olcott  about  this  matter.  I 
prefer  to  write  directly  to  you,  than  to  him,  as  you  may 
give  him  some  more  explanations  about  myself  than  would  be 
proper  for  me  to  write,  and  perhaps  nobody  but  you  will 
believe  what  are  really  my  resources  and  how  carefully  I 
must  manage  to  meet  the  two  ends  of  the  year. 

My  love  to  Mrs.  Hall,  also  from  Mrs.  Agassiz.  She  has 
made  up  her  mind  not  to  come  to  Albany;  the  fact  is  that 
we  have  not  the  means  of  making  even  this  little  extra 
expedition." 

Hall  writes  to  Prof.  Jacob  W.  Bailey  at  West 
Point  with  the  hope  of  securing  Professor  Dennis 
H.  Mahan  6  for  the  Engineering  Courses  and  asks 
Bailey's  advice  regarding  Lieutenant  Benjamin 
Hall  Wright  of  West  Point  for  a  similar  place  on 
the  faculty.  John  P.  Norton  of  Yale  joined  his 
interests  to  the  project  and  agreed  to  come  as  Pro- 
fessor of  Chemistry;  Professors  Ormsby  M.  Mit- 
chell 7  and  Benjamin  Peirce,  astronomers  of 
national  prominence,  were  already  taking  a  lively 
concern  in  the  undertaking  and  in  their  frequent 
conferences  with  the  Albany  trustees  aroused  great 
enthusiasm  over  the  desirability  of  an  astronomical 
observatory  in  connection  with  the  University.  By 


*  Among  the  most  distinguished  of  American  engineers ;  father 
of  Capt.  A.  T.  Mahan,  writer  on  sea  power  and  other  naval  sub- 
jects. 

7  Professor  Mitchell  afterward  became  director  of  the  Dudley 
Observatory.  Being  a  West  Point  graduate,  he  entered  the  Civil 
War,  where  he  won  the  commission  of  Brigadier-General  but  died 
of  yellow  fever. 


BENJAMIN  PEIRCE  195 

October,  Professor  Peirce  has  worked  out  the 
whole  project,  faculty  and  all,  and  he  writes  to 
Hall: 

"  It  will  be  indispensable  for  the  first  ten  years  for  private 
individuals  to  guarantee  the  funds  which  will  be  required 
to  maintain  the  University,  but  I  regard  it  as  the  part  of  the 
Professors  to  render  it  so  grateful  to  the  pride  and  so 
attractive  to  the  good  will  and  good  sense  of  the  State  that 
the  Government  will  after  that  period  send  pupils  enough 
to  insure  its  permanent  establishment,  but  this  hope  can  not 
be  attained  unless  the  corps  of  Professors  is  sufficient  in 
number  and  quality  to  command  universal  respect  and  con- 
fidence. 

The  following  is  the  list  of  the  Professors  which  I  should 
propose  and  which  I  have  written  in  alphabetical  order  tak- 
ing the  liberty  to  insert  my  own  name  for  convenience  of 
reference. 

Agassiz  —  Zoology ;  Dana  —  Mineralogy ;  Hall  —  Geol- 
ogy ;  Levering  —  Physics ;  Mitchell  —  Astronomy ;  Norton 
—  Chemistry ;  Peirce  — Mathematics ;  Wright  —  Engineer- 
ing ;  Wyman  —  Comparative  Anatomy.8 

Most  of  the  Professors  will  only  be  required  to  be  present 
at  the  University  and  lecture  daily  during  three  months  of 
the  year,  ,in  which  their  salary  should  be  $1,500  per  annum. 
In  addition  to  this  sum  Hall  and  Wright  should  receive 
$1,500  so  that  the  whole  salary  of  each  of  them  may  be 
$3,000  and  their  services  may  be  proportionately  augmented. 
It  is  of  the  highest  importance  that  Agassiz  and  his  collec- 

8  That  is,  more  explicitly ;  Louis  Agassiz  of  Harvard,  James  D. 
Dana  of  Yale,  James  Hall,  Joseph  Levering,  professor  of  physics 
at  Harvard,  O.  M.  Mitchell,  John  P.  Norton  of  Yale,  Benjamin 
Peirce  of  Harvard,  Benjamin  H.  Wright  of  West  Point,  Jeffries 
Wyman  of  Harvard. 


196  JAMES  HALL 

tions  should  be  transferred  permanently  to  Albany.  He 
should  be  provided  with  the  means  of  increasing  his  cabinet 
and  be  relieved  from  the  necessity  of  lecturing  about  the 
country.  He  should  therefore,  in  addition  to  the  salary  for 
lecturing,  receive  $2,500  per  annum." 

And  Hall  writing  to  Agassiz,  October  27,  1851, 
tells  of  this  letter,  of  Mitchell's  enthusiasm  and  of 
other  things  which  happened  at  a  public  meeting  in 
Albany : 

"  Prof.  Mitchell  returned  home  on  Wednesday  last,  with 
Prof.  Peirce's  letter.  The  letter  is  very  gratifying  to  our 
friends  here,  though  they  fear  that  the  money  for  the  experi- 
ment can  not  be  raised.  On  Wednesday  evening  we  had  a 
meeting  of  some  two  hundred  individuals  and  Prof.  Mitchell 
addressed  them  on  the  subject  of  the  Observatory  and  fol- 
lowed by  some  very  appropriate  remarks  upon  the  plan  of 
the  University,  reading  the  first  part  of  Prof.  Peirce's  letter 
and  telling  them  in  conclusion  that  if  they,  the  people  of 
Albany,  could  not  raise  the  money  for  such  a  grand  experi- 
ment he  himself  would.  He  was  followed  by  several  others 
and  among  them  Mr.  Randall9  who  spoke  in  warm  terms, 
hoping  the  object  would  be  carried  out  as  the  climax  of 
the  educational  system  of  New  York.  Others  followed 
and  finally  Dr.  Beck10  who  had  been  called  on  to  preside  at 
the  opening  of  the  meeting,  said  that  although  not  accus- 
tomed to  speak  on  such  occasions  he  would  say  a  few  words. 
He  said  he  had  been  doubtful  of  the  success  of  this  Univer- 
sity; he  thought  when  first  proposed  that  it  would  add 
another  to  the  already  too  numerous  colleges,  but  he  had 


0  Samuel   S.   Randall,   Deputy   Superintendent  of   Public  Instruc- 
tion; witness  in  the  Agassiz  suit. 
"T.  Romeyn  Beck,  M.  D. 


COURSES  OF  1852  197 

become  convinced  that  those  engaged  in  it  had  a  higher 
object  and  he  believed  the  plan  would  be  carried  out  and 
that  we  might  have  in  Albany  a  university  equal  to  Euro- 
pean universities  and  become  in  time  equal  to  the  celebrated 
University  of  Berlin. 

This  speech  was  followed  by  great  applause,  and  being 
made  pending  a  motion  to  adjourn,  the  meeting  adjourned 
having  been  occupied  about  two  hours." 

There  was  reason  for  this  great  enthusiasm  on 
the  part  of  Peirce  and  Mitchell,  for  their  influence 
had  already  been  so  effective  that  through  the 
cooperation  and  direct  intervention  of  Thomas  W. 
Olcott  and  Dr.  Armsby,  a  sum  sufficient  to  build 
an  astronomical  observatory  had  been  secured  by 
the  gift  of  Mrs.  Blandina  Dudley.  Professor  Nor- 
ton was  doubtless  telling  Hall  old  news  when  he 
wrote  (June,  1851)  :  "You  will  be  pleased  to  learn 
that  Mrs.  Dudley  is  to  build  the  Observatory. 
This  probably  will  secure  Mitchell.  I  enclose  a 
copy  of  the  new  circular.  We  shall  send  4000  of 
them  to  the  State  Fair."  But  before  this  gift  had 
been  made  the  "  Circular  of  the  Scientific  Depart- 
ment; University  of  Albany;  Courses  of  1852" 
was  out  and  distributed;  and  hereon  the  scientific 
faculty  as  made  up  was : 

John  P.  Norton,  Scientific  and  Practical  Agri- 
culture. 

James  Hall,  Geology  with  its  Applications  to 
Agriculture  (16  titles!). 

O.  M.  Mitchell,  Astronomy. 


198  JAMES  HALL 

Henry  Goadby  (formerly  of  the  Royal  College 
of  Surgeons,  London),  Entomology  in  its  Relation 
to  Agriculture. 

George  H.  Cook,  Elementary  Chemistry. 

George  R.  Perkins,  Applied  Mathematics. 

To  these  lectures  was  attached  a  fee  varying 
according  to  the  length  of  the  course,  and  with 
these  science  courses  were  coupled  those  of  the 
departments  of  law  and  medicine.  The  two  latter 
gave  a  training  for  a  recognized  profession  and 
livelihood  and  were  evidently  successful;  the 
science  courses  did  not  afford  such  opportunity  for 
entry  to  any  recognized  profession  and  appear  to 
have  been  given  only  in  part.  It  was  expected  that 
the  State  would  come  to  the  help  of  the  University 
with  a  generous  provision  for  scholarships  but  it 
failed  to  do  so  and  thus  failing  deprived  the  science 
department  of  its  chief  reliance. 

The  failure  of  the  1852  courses  did  not  wholly 
discourage  the  sponsors  for  the  University  nor 
lessen  the  general  interest  in  the  project  of  a 
national  university  of  broadest  scope.  It  was,  it 
seemed  to  those  behind  it,  only  a  little  slow  in 
getting  in  motion  and  in  realizing  its  proper  scope. 

Desor,  the  Swiss  naturalist  who  had  come  over 
to  be  associated  with  Agassiz,  believes  that  it  holds 
out  a  good  hope  for  the  country  and  seeks  a  defi- 
nition of  its  purpose.  "  What,"  he  writes,  "  should 
an  American  university  be?  Must  it  be  on  the 


EDOUARD  DESOR  199 

English,  the  German,  the  French  or  on  an  Ameri- 
can plan?  Must  it  grow  up  from  the  Common 
schools  without  any  seed  being  sown  or  must  it 
descend  from  on  High  like  a  new  revelation  ?  Must 
it  be,  as  now  proposed  in  England,  a  mere  gradu- 
ating institution  producing  its  results  wholly  by 
examinations ;  or  must  it  be  a  collection  of  profes- 
sional schools?  Or  should  it  be  a  school  in  which 
the  higher  education  is  to  be  given  to  all  men  desir- 
ing a  liberal  education?  Must  it  fit  its  pupils  for 
heaven  or  for  earth?  for  the  world  as  it  is  or  as  it 
will  be  or  as  it  should  be?  Shall  its  sponsors  be 
pious  monks,  learned  scholars  or  wise  and  efficient 
men?" 

At  this  point  of  our  story  a  new  character  enters ; 
a  keen  young  blade  by  the  name  of  Josiah  D.  Whit- 
ney, of  Northampton,  Mass.,  one  of  the  "  Cam- 
bridge crowd,"  as  he  himself  calls  it,  and  the  writer 
of  breezy  letters,  often  serio-comic  but  quite  as 
often  intensely  sober-minded  whenever  pursuing 
his  scientific  concerns.  We  shall  presently  see  that 
Whitney  had  already  come  into  Hall's  life  in  con- 
nection with  the  Lake  Superior  mineral  survey 
and  was  a  man  of  recognized  ability  in  his  profes- 
sion, though  he  had  not  yet  gone  far.  The  talk  of 
the  Albany  University  had  spread  afield;  it  pro- 
posed to  take  from  Cambridge  some  of  its  bright- 
est lights  and  the  unelect  at  Harvard  seem  to  have 
deliberately  started  a  back  fire  to  prevent  this 


200  JAMES  HALL 

depredation;  as  witnesses  this  characteristic  out- 
burst from  Whitney  (January  1851)  : 

"  I  was  at  Cambridge  yesterday  and  sat  four  mortal  hours 
hearing  the  sophs'  examination  in  the  elements  of  chemistry 
by  the  illustrious  Prof.  C — .  I  did  not  find  that  his  appoint- 
ment seemed  to  give  very  extensive  satisfaction  there.  He 
may  be  said  to  have  bought  his  professorship  for  $1,000, 
having  offered  to  lay  out  that  sum  for  apparatus  for  the 
college.  Going-going-gone  at  $1,000!  Don't  I  hear  any 
more?  Only  $1,000  for  a  professorship  in  the  most  ancient 
and  respectable  college  in  the  country  and  formerly  filled 
by  so  distinguished  a  man ! 

What  do  you  think  of  a  Polytechnic  School  in  New  York 
City  with  Messrs.  Hall,  Gibbs,  Gould  etc.,  for  professors? 
Such  an  idea  is  being  discussed  in  Cambridge." 

A  few  days  later  he  writes  again,  of  which  the 
following  is  an  abbreviation: 

"  I  spent  Sunday  with  Gould  and  talked  the  matter  of  the 
Polytechnic  School  over  with  him.  He  is  going  to  New 
York  and  Washington  tomorrow  and  will  take  an  occasion 
to  discuss  the  thing  with  Gibbs  and  others.  We  are 
strongly  inclined  to  New  York  for  many  reasons.  I.  The 
great  city  itself  and  its  various  advantages.  2.  The  Astor 
Library.  3.  We  all  want  to  be  established  there  where  in 
case  of  need  we  can  have  other  engagements  to  make  a 
living  from.  This  is  especially  the  case  with  Gibbs  and 
Gould.  4.  The  opportunity  of  establishing  an  Academy  of 
Science." 

Soon  again: 

"  With  reference  to  the  P.  S.  *  *  *  we  proposed 
the  following  departments : 


NEW  POLYTECHNIC  SCHOOL      201 

Gibbs  —  Chemistry  and  Physics. 

Whitney  —  Mineralogy,    Metallurgy    and     Mining    Engi- 
neering. 

Hall  —  Geology  and  Palaeontology. 
Chauvenet  —  Mathematics. 

Gould  —  Astronomy,  theoretical  and  practical  Engineering. 
If  such  a  school  is  organized  we  shall  have  only  the  best 
men  in  the  country.  Nothing  is  decided  as  it  is  only  a  mat- 
ter that  we  have  talked  about  in  our  utter  disgust  of  the 
way  things  are  done  at  Cambridge." 

In  the  absence  of  any  response  from  Hall  to 
these  letters  we  may  assume  that  his  interest  lay 
elsewhere.  So  Whitney  goes  to  Europe  but  by 
September  he  is  back  again  and  interested  in  the 
Albany  undertaking.  He  writes  in  January,  1852 
from  Northampton: 

"As  for  the  University,  it  seems  as  if  it  had  fallen  alto- 
gether in  the  hands  of  the  old  fogies.  A  pretty  piece  of 
business  such  men  as  Whalen,  Bishop  Potter  and  T.  Romeyn 
Beck  will  make  of  the  organization.  What  a  scientific 
spirit  was  shown  by  the  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  in  his  lectures  in 
Boston  when  he  laid  it  down  that  there  were  physical  and 
physiological  phenomena  which  it  was  a  sin  to  investigate !  " 

This  in  February: 

"  I  agree  with  you  entirely  that  it  will  take  something 
more  than  a  flourish  of  trumpets  or  beating  the  big  drum  to 
make  a  University  and  when  the  big  committee  comes  to- 
gether to  draw  up  a  plan  I  trust  that  they  will  be  furnished 
with  nothing  in  the  trumpet  line  larger  than  a  penny  whistle, 
but  that  they  will  roll  up  their  shirtsleeves  and  go  to  work 
in  earnest.  We  have  talked  until  our  throats  are  tired  and 
now  would  like  to  see  something  done.  We  are  lying  on 


202  JAMES  HALL 

our  oars  now  and  waiting  to  see  what  will  come  to  the 
Albany  movement.  Certainly  such  an  undertaking  is  a 
National  matter  and  not  to  be  hampered  by  narrow-minded 
local  prejudice.  We  are  determined  to  do  what  we  can  at 
Cambridge  if  things  do  not  go  right  at  Albany." 

And  this  in  April : 

"  I  hope  that  you  did  not  expire  with  the  Albany  Univer- 
sity and  I  also  hope  that  you  have  not  allowed  yourself  to 
be  prejudiced  against  me  by  the  infamous  falsehoods  which 
J —  and  his  friends  have  caused  to  be  communicated  in  order 
to  prevent  my  nomination  to  a  chair  in  the  University  that 
was,  or  is  (which  is  it?)." 

With  a  few  more  expiring  groans  from  Agassiz 
to  Dr.  Beck  and  a  few  more  joyous  chortles  from 
the  other  Harvard  men  and  a  few  more  echoes  for 
a  year  or  two,  the  ambitious  scientific  program  of 
the  University  of  Albany  collapsed,  though  out  of 
the  movement  which  had  led  to  it  and  organized  it 
and  which  indeed  by  diversion,  shoaled  the  Uni- 
versity itself,  came  a  great  fruitage;  the  Dudley 
Observatory  u  and  the  Albany  Law  School.12  And 

"The  "Dudley  Observatory  of  the  City  of  Albany,"  made  secure 
by  the  endowments  of  Mrs  Blandina  Dudley  and  the  gifts  of 
Thomas  W.  Olcott,  was  separately  incorporated  in  April,  1852, 
after  it  had  become  evident  that  the  rest  of  the  scientific  depart- 
ment of  the  University  had  broken  down.  For  a  while,  during  the 
directorship  of  Benjamin  Apthorpe  Gould,  it  navigated  pretty 
squally  seas  but  came  out  into  safe  waters  when  Professor  Mitchell 
took  the  helm,  just  before  the  Civil  War.  Under  the  later  guid- 
ance of  Lewis  Boss  and  Benjamin  Boss,  his  son,  it  has  acquired 
enduring  distinction  for  the  recondite  and  meritorious  researches 
which  it  has  fostered. 

"The  title  "University  of  Albany"  was  transferred  to  the  Law 


THE  "NA  TIONAL  UNIVERSITY  "     203 

in  spite  of  the  breakdown  of  these  1852  "  Courses 
in  Science,"  and  with  encouragement  drawn  from 
the  success  of  the  other  departments  the  compara- 
tively modest  claims  of  the  University  of  Albany 
grew  into  a  dangerously  ambitious  program  for  a 
"  National  University;  "  and  on  a  stormy  night  in 
1853,  Governor  Seward  presided  over  a  public 
meeting  of  the  "  friends  "  of  this  project  wherein 
Dr.  Sears  of  Boston  spoke  at  length  and  Dr.  Beck 
and  Secretary  of  State  Randall  applauded;  and  at 
the  close  of  this  meeting  the  "  National  Univer- 
sity "  adjourned  sine  die. 

I  have  been  thus  particular  about  the  history  of 
this  educational  movement  for  the  distinct  purpose 
of  making  clear  the  fact  that  it  arose  and  its  results 
ensued  from  two  clearly  evident  factors;  the  in- 
terest, general  and  local,  aroused  by  the  Natural 
History  Survey,  and  the  personal  activities  of  Pro- 
fessor Hall,  with  their  reaction  upon  the  intel- 
lectual leaders  of  his  community. 

As  to  the  Polytechnic  School  of  New  York, 
devised  as  a  counterblast  to  the  Albany  University 
—  its  light,  too,  flickered  out  and  left  nothing 
behind  by  which  to  connect  it  with  any  living 
activity. 

Department  and  retained  as  the  holding  title  till  1873  when  all  the 
agencies  here  mentioned,  with  the  addition  of  Union  College  at 
Schenectady,  were  united  and  chartered  as  Union  University. 


THE  PERIOD  OF  VOLUME  II  — 1847-1852  —  Continued 


The  Foster  Geological  Chart  —  Agassiz's  criticism  —  Hall 
and  Agassiz  sued  —  The  Agassiz  trial  —  His  strictures 
—  Denunciation  of  Emmons  —  Attack  on  the  Taconic 
System  — Case  nonsuited  —  Science  in  the  Courts  — 
Hall  makes  a  Geological  Chart  —  Its  success  —  James 
D.  Dana  plans  a  text-book. 

ONE  day  in  the  autumn  of  1849,  Professor 
Hall  happened  to  be  in  the  office  of  Samuel 
S.  Randall,  the  deputy  Superintendent  of 
Public  Instruction,  and  Mr.  Randall  directed  his 
attention  to  something  new  and  interesting  in 
the  educational  way  —  a  Geological  Chart,  so- 
called,  prepared  for  the  use  of  the  schools 
and  submitted  to  the  superintendent  for  his  en- 
dorsement. Hall  looked  over  this  colored  and 
varnished  wall  chart,  with  its  vertical  columns 
showing  the  successive  rock  formations,  their 
names,  the  fossils  with  their  designations,  the 
volcanic  dikes  spouting  red  ink  all  through,  and  his 
bristles  stood  erect  as  his  eyes  swept  the  great 
sheet  and  failed  to  find  in  the  conspicuous  lettering 
and  more  conspicuous  coloration,  a  single  mention 
of  the  New  York  Formations.  This  was  a  proof 
sheet  of  "  Foster's  Complete  Geological  Chart " 
prepared  by  a  school-teacher  at  Greenbush,  across 

[204] 


THE  FOSTER  CHART  205 

the  river  from  Albany,  by  the  name  of  James  T. 
Foster.  Though  he  lived  but  a  mile  or  so  away, 
Hall  had  never  heard  of  this  person  —  this  auda- 
cious fellow.  Assuming  his  most  suave  manner 
and  gentlest  voice,  as  he  ever  did  when  on  the 
verge  of  explosion,  he  begged  from  Mr.  Randall 
the  loan  of  the  chart  that  he  might  examine  it  at 
his  leisure;  and  with  it  once  securely  rolled  under 
his  arm,  he  burst  out  in  a  torrent  of  denunciation 
and  invective  over  the  impudent  document,  and 
made  his  way  out.  At  home  he  sat  down  in  the 
midst  of  his  wrath  and  wrote  to  Horsford  of  his 
discovery,  sent  him  the  chart  and  asked  him  to 
leave  it  with  Agassiz 1  for  his  opinion.  Professor 

1  Exactly  how  this  transaction  was  carried  out  is  told  by  Hors- 
ford to  Hall  in  November,  1850. 

"  In  connection  with  Agassiz  last  evening  and  Prof.  Par- 
sons, I  was  enabled  to  recall  the  history  of  the  chart  and  it 
materially  differs  from  what  I  wrote  in  reply  to  your  letter 
from  New  York  a  year  ago  or  more.  I  will  tell  you  what 
it  is  and  show  you  how  I  had  got  another  meaning. 

Your  letter  to  me  contained  matter  intended  only  for  my 
eye,  as  well  as  the  request  that  I  would  procure  the  written 
opinion  of  Agassiz,  Jackson,  Rogers,  Silliman  and  Dana. 
In  consequence  I  took  the  letter  in  my  pocket  with  the  chart 
and  went  around  to  Prof.  Agassiz,  but  not  finding  him  in 
left  the  chart  and  brought  the  letter  home.  The  following 
morning  I  went  around  again  to  tell  him  for  what  I  had 
brought  the  chart.  On  meeting  him,  a  conversation  some- 
thing like  this  took  place :  '  Have  you  seen  the  chart  I 
brought  here  ? '  '  Oh,  you  brought  it,  did  you  ?  '  '  This  comes 


206  JAMES  HALL 

Agassiz,  always  keenly  sensitive  to  the  dignity  of 
science,  replied  with  a  terrific  demolition  of  the 
"  Chart  "  and  told  Hall  that  he  might  use  the  letter 
as  he  saw  fit.  Hall  saw  fit  to  print  it  in  the  Albany 
newspapers  with  one  of  his  own  of  much  the  same 
tone.  And  thereupon  James  T.  Foster  brought  an 
action  for  civil  damages  against  Hall  and  Agassiz 
separately  for  libel  in  the  amount  of  $40,000  for 
the  former  and  $20,000  for  the  latter. 

Meanwhile  the  offended  and  offending  Foster 
had  his  chart  quickly  revised,  took  out  the  vague 
European  nomenclature  with  its  fossils  and  in- 
serted the  New  York  names  together  with  the 
"  Taconic  System  " ;  then  at  the  bottom  entered  a 
submarginal  notation:  "  Corrected  by  Professor 
Emmons  and  W.  W.  Mather,  New  York  State 


from  Hall  and  he  wants  your  opinion  of  it.'  '  I  am  glad  I 
did  not  know  from  whom  it  was  received.  I  have  written 
my  opinion  and  have  taken  a  copy  to  send  to  Silliman's 
Journal.'  The  other  copy  I  asked  for,  not  stopping  to  read 
it,  had  it  copied  and  sent  the  original  to  you,  I  think,  under 
my  own  envelope.  I  did  not  then  give  the  letter  to  Agassiz 
because  the  sentences  intended  for  me  were  not  erased.  On 
my  return  to  my  room  with  Agassiz's  letter  to  you,  as  I 
cpuld  not  have  a  personal  interview  with  Jackson  and  Rogers 
and,  that  they  might  have  authoritative  requests  from  you, 
I  erased  the  passages  in  your  letter  that  were  designed  for 
me  alone,  enclosing  it  with  Agassiz's  letter  in  an  envelope 
to  Jackson  and  Rogers  on  their  return  home.  I  sent  the 
whole  thing  on  to  Dana." 


5 


AGASSIZ'S  CRITICISM  207 

Geologist."  This  revised  edition  was  quickly  copy- 
righted. It  added  fuel  to  the  indignant  fires  of 
Hall  and  of  Agassiz;  now  with  the  offending 
Taconic  System  broadly  displayed  it  was  indeed  a 
chivalric  adventure  to  break  a  lance  upon  it.  And 
Lieutenant  Mather  did  not  help  the  author's  stand- 
ing by  declaring  openly  in  Silliman's  Journal  that 
he  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  chart. 

When  the  complaint  in  the  suit  was  served  on 
Agassiz,  he  could  not  understand  how  his  stinging 
reproof  of  the  charlatan  and  his  caustic  invective 
against  an  attempt  to  disseminate  false  knowledge 
should  be  construed  as  other  than  a  loyal  defense 
of  his  goddess,  and  a  legitimate  "  critic."  He 
writes  to  Hall:  "The  whole  affair  seems  to  me 
perfectly  ridiculous.  There  can  be  no  foundation 
for  a  suit  in  this  matter  which  belongs  altogether 
to  scientific  critic  and  has  nothing  to  do  with  the 
case  of  individuals.  *  *  *  What  interest  have 
I  in  this  matter?  None  but  that  of  science.  And 
where  a  State  has  done  so  much  for  science  as  the 
State  of  New  York,  it  becomes  a  duty  for  scientific 
men  to  prevent  them  from  being  humbugged  by 
pseudo-knowledge." 

Neither  Agassiz's  loyalty  to  his  ideals  in  science 
nor  his  intense  devotion  to  his  friend  availed.  The 
suits  were  pressed  to  early  trial,  Hall  was  charged 
by  Agassiz  to  make  all  necessary  arrangements  for 
the  defense  and  he  entered  into  the  business  of  it 


208  JAMES  HALL 

with  spirit  and  purpose.  He  retained  the  law  firm 
of  Dean  and  Newland  —  Amos  Dean  and  John 
Newland  —  and  in  addition  secured  the  assistance 
of  Nicholas  Hill,  Jr.;  all  three  highly  eminent 
members  of  the  Albany  bar.  I  have  heard  Hall 
tell  of  nights  spent  in  giving  instruction  in  geology 
to  Mr.  Hill  with  special  regard  to  the  ins  and  outs 
of  New  York  geology,  and  to  the  utterly  nefarious 
character  of  the  "  Taconic  System."  Just  how  it 
was  arranged  it  is  hard  to  tell  though  easy  to 
guess,  but  the  court  docket  was  fixed  so  that 
Agassiz's  case  was  to  be  called  first.  It  was  set 
down  for  January,  1850,  postponed  till  March  and 
meanwhile  Agassiz,  untroubled,  went  off  south  to 
give  his  lectures  at  the  Charleston  Medical  College. 
In  the  interval  the  printing  of  the  offending  chart 
proceeded  at  the  old  book  house  of  Websters  & 
Skinners  in  Albany  and  the  edition  was  packed  off 
to  New  York  to  be  put  on  the  market.  It  would 
appear  that  the  shipment  was  made  by  the  Hudson 
river  night  boat,  and  that  Hall,  hearing  of  it,  took 
passage  by  the  same  boat.  The  charts  never 
reached  New  York.  George  H.  Cook,  the  dis- 
tinguished State  Geologist  of  New  Jersey,  in  those 
days  intimate  with  scientific  affairs  in  Albany,  told 
me  the  story  of  this  little  moonlight  excursion, 
from  which  the  only  logical  deduction  was  that 
Hall  threw  the  entire  edition  of  the  Foster  Chart 


m 


** 

^\^^ 


^genl i n e 

&mm 


t   s 


SUIT  AGAINST  AGASSIZ  209 

into  the  Hudson.2  "  Do  you  think  he  really  did 
that?"  said  I  wonderingly  to  Professor  Cook. 
"  Do  you  think  he  would  not?"  was  the  answer. 

Subjected  to  long  delays,  after  many  postpone- 
ments, Professor  Agassiz's  case  was  called  for  trial 
in  March,  1851.  The  suit  had  now  grown  to 
momentous  proportions  as  the  reigning  sensation  in 
the  scientific  community  of  the  country  and  in  the 
civic  community  of  Albany  as  well.  Though  the 
issue  was  trivial,  the  defendant  was  a  national  pos- 
session, known  and  honored  by  all  intellectual 
America,  and  since  his  marriage  to  Miss  Gary, 
bone  of  the  bone  and  flesh  of  the  flesh  of  the  cercle 
bastonnais;  it  was  already  a  cause  celebre  and  many 
letters  came  to  Hall  from  men  who  expressed  a 
wish  to  give  testimony.  Justice  Amasa  J.  Parker 
was  the  trial  judge  in  the  Supreme  Court  and 
among  the  witnesses  subpoenaed  by  the  defense 
were  John  W.  Foster,  already  eminent  for  his 
services  as  federal  geologist,  Josiah  D.  Whitney, 
his  colleague  on  the  Lake  Superior  Survey,  James 
D.  Dana,  of  Yale  College,  Eben  N.  Horsford,  the 
Rumford  professor  at  the  Lawrence  Scientific 
School,  Joseph  Henry,  Secretary  of  the  Smith- 

"The  Foster  Chart  is  an  exceedingly  rare  bibliographic  item.  I 
once  found  a  copy  torn  and  ragged,  which  had  been  used  as  wrap- 
ping paper  for  fossils  in  one  of  Hall's  boxes,  but  my  inquiries  have 
failed  to  locate  any  other  except  the  copyright  sheets  in  the  Library 
of  Congress. 
14 


210  JAMES  HALL 

sonian  Institution,  and  Josiah  Colton,  the  map  pub- 
lisher. The  plaintiff's  action  was  based  upon  an 
allegation  which  implied  the  libeling  of  a  copy- 
righted but  unpublished  document  which,  it  was 
alleged,  had  acquired  definite  value  because  of  its 
endorsement  by  the  Superintendent  of  Public 
Instruction,  and  its  acceptance  for  use  in  the 
schools  of  New  York  State,  provided  it  was 
countersigned  by  Dr.  Emmons.  We  can  imagine 
then  that  it  was  an  interested  and  impressive  group 
that  were  gathered  beneath  Justice  Parker's  bench 
that  morning  of  March  7th,  1851,  when,  after 
hearing  the  testimony  of  the  plaintiff  and  his  chief 
witness,  Dr.  Ebenezer  Emmons,  and  the  annihilat- 
ing cross-examination  of  Emmons  by  Nicholas 
Hill;  Amos  Dean  (who  a  few  years  later,  by  Hall's 
influence  became  first  Chancellor  of  the  University 
of  the  State  of  Iowa)  opened  for  the  defendant. 
We  have  not  thought  it  necessary  to  give  at  length 
Agassiz's  letter  about  the  Foster  Chart,  but  in  his 
"Answer "  the  defendant  restates  his  critique 
which  was  wholly  directed  against  the  document  in 
its  original  form  and  defiantly  strengthens  it; 
declaring  the  chart  to  be  "  a  monstrous  map  and  a 
crude  production  full  of  false  and  antiquated  views 
so  represented  that  its  mere  circulation  would  be 
considered  abroad  as  a  disgrace  to  American  geolo- 
gists if  they  were  not  to  protest  against  it  before  it 
is  puffed  out  in  the  newspapers  and  that  there  is  no 


''COMPLAINT  "  AND  "ANSWER  "     211 

reference  whatever  therein  to  the  geology  of  this 
Continent.  *  *  *  That  the  aforesaid  chart  does 
not  give  correctly  or  in  their  natural  relations  the 
several  matters  and  things  appearing  thereon,  that 
there  are  grotesque  combinations  among  the  illus- 
trations among  the  Tertiary  beds  and  that  the 
Ichthyosauri  and  Plesiosauri  of  the  Lias  parade 
among  the  Pachyderms  of  Montmartre  in  as 
ridiculous  a  manner  as  a  narrative  of  battles 
between  Napoleon  and  Alexander  the  Great  of 
Macedon  would  appear  in  a  text-book  of  Universal 
History  were  the  scene  transferred  to  China  "  and 
much  more  to  the  same  purpose.  The  "  Com- 
plaint "  asserted  as  a  basis  for  damages  that  the 
chart  was  to  be  accepted  for  the  public  schools 
"  whenever  a  copy  thereof  should  be  brought  to  the 
office  of  said  Randall  and  of  the  said  Superin- 
tendent with  a  certificate  of  recommendation  of 
one  Prof.  Ebenezer  Emmons,  a  man  of  approved 
knowledge,  learning,  judgment  and  skill  in  the  art 
and  science  of  geology;"  and  the  defendant 
"  denied  "  "  that  said  Ebenezer  Emmons  was  at  the 
aforesaid  time  or  is  a  man  of  approved  knowledge, 
learning,  judgment  or  skill  in  the  art  and  science 
of  geology  as  is  alleged  in  said  complaint."  The 
trial  lasted  several  days,  and  the  action  soon  re- 
solved itself,  from  a  defense  against  the  charges  of 
an  ill-advised  schoolmaster,  to  an  open  assault  upon 
Emmons  and  his  imputed  heresies.  Toward  that 


212  JAMES  HALL 

end  all  of  Hall's  night  drills  of  Nicholas  Hill  had 
been  guided  and  all  the  vigorous  testimony  oi  the 
expert  witnesses  was,  in  Mr.  Hill's  skillful  hands, 
pointedly  addressed.  The  plaintiff  was  non-suited 
with  costs  and  the  loss  to  him  was  a  few  hundred 
dollars,  a  pleasing  prospect  of  profit  and  his  charts 
(which  Hall  threw  into  the  Hudson) ;  but  Dr. 
Emmons  emerged  with  a  battered  reputation.  In 
his  embarrassment  he  had  weakened  and  contra- 
dicted himself  on  the  stand  and,  try  as  he  would,  he 
could  not  uphold  his  Taconic  System  against  the 
batteries  which  faced  him.  It  was  a  cruel  position 
in  which  the  Taconic  System  found  itself,  sur- 
rounded by  its  enemies  and  on  trial  for  its  life 
before  a  jury  of  twelve  Albany  Dutchmen  and 
Irishmen  most  of  whom  could  hardly  have  had  a 
glimmer  of  the  real  issues  at  stake ;  a  strange  forum 
indeed  for  the  settlement  of  a  scientific  issue.  The 
enemies  it  made  were  enemies  for  life  and  the 
echoes  of  this  trial  did  not  even  ebb  away  with  the 
life  of  its  participants.3 


8 Our  courts  are  the  wrong  place  for  Science;  it  seldom  leaves 
the  witness  stand  with  credit  to  itself  or  with  comprehending  jus- 
tice from  the  advocates  of  the  statutes  who  surround  it.  "  Expert " 
scientific  testimony  is  too  seldom  unbiased  to  be  conclusive  and 
science  is  progressive  rather  than  final;  court  decisions  are  final 
in  intention.  The  incongruity  and  often  absurdity  of  the  conjunc- 
tion have  frequently  been  illustrated  in  my  own  experience.  A  road 
contractor  once  sued  the  State  for  damages  resulting  from  the 
refusal  of  his  road.  The  State  claimed  he  had  not  used  the  mate- 
rial specified  in  the  contract,  which  was  a  Cambrian  limestone. 


SCIENCE  AND  THE  COURTS        213 

Thus  ended  the  Agassiz  trial.  The  case  against 
Hall  was  never  called.  And  thus  ended  the  Foster 
Chart.  But  the  trial  of  the  Taconic  System  was 
not  over  for  fifty  years.  Gradually  the  blinding 
acrimonies  of  the  years  have  blown  away;  in  a 
clearer  light  we  see  the  merit  in  the  claims  of  the 
discoverer  who  produced  the  first  evidence  of  the 
earliest  known  life  on  the  earth. 

During  the  trial  of  his  suit  Professor  Agassiz 
was  the  guest  of  Dr.  Thomas  Hun  at  his  home  on 
North  Pearl  street.  When  it  was  over  Dr.  Em- 
mons  called  on  him  to  express  the  hope  that  he 
might  still  have  the  assurance  of  his  friendship,  but 
Agassiz  declined,  sending  word  that  his  friend- 
ship would  be  withheld  till  he  had  some  assurance 
of  a  more  correct  behavior;  so  great  a  hold 
already  had  Professor  Agassiz  upon  the  scientific 
men  of  America.  To  us,  looking  back  on  this 


The  contractor  owned  a  quarry  of  Trenton  limestone  and  he  was 
suspected  of  using  it  because  cheaper,  though  of  inferior  quality. 
A  palaeontologist  was  called  on  to  determine  the  issue  and  he  found 
Trenton  fossils  in  the  road  bed.  The  court  inquired  closely  about 
this  matter  of  the  fossils.  What  was  the  difference  between  those 
of  the  Trenton  and  Cambrian?  What  were  the  relations  of  the 
rocks?  Which  was  the  older?  "The  Cambrian."  "How  much 
older?  "  asked  the  judge.  "  That  would  be  hard  to  say,"  answered 
the  witness  with  proper  caution.  "  Would  you  say  a  million  years  ?  " 
asked  the  judge.  "  I  think  you  might  say  that,"  said  the  witness. 
"  The  clerk  will  put  it  down  one  million  years,"  ordered  the  court.. 
So  there  is  a  court  record  in  New  York  that  the  length  of  time 
from  the  Lower  Cambrian  to  the  age  of  the  Trenton  is  one  million 
years ! 


214  JAMES  HALL 

incident,  it  seems  to  carry  a  large  element  of  the 
humorous,  but  it  was  a  tragedy  for  Dr.  Em- 
mons.4  The  most  influential  men  in  the  science 
were  at  once  alined  against  him;  for  a  little  while 
he  remained  in  Albany  engaged  upon  his  agricul- 
tural reports;  when  the  opportunity  came  he  re- 
moved to  North  Carolina,  never  to  return.  But  till 
his  death,  only  a  few  years  later,  he  fought  for  his 
Taconic  System. 

Hall's  discovery  of  the  Foster  Chart  set  him  to 
thinking  —  it  was  an  excellent  idea ;  he  would  make 
a  chart  and  make  it  right  and  the  authority  of  his 
name  should  give  it  currency.  He  did  make  one, 
even  before  the  trial  came  on  and  sent  it  around  to 
his  friends  for  their  comment.  Agassiz,  Gould  and 
Silliman  good-naturedly  but  cautiously  approved, 
as  geological  charts  had  proved  rather  skittish 
things  to  endorse.  To  insure  it  he  circulated  a 
written  form  of  endorsement  among  leading  geolo- 
gists in  which  he  was  so  particular  and  cautious  as 
to  rate  these  signatures  in  the  order  of  their  merit, 
as  it  seemed  to  him.  He  puts  Agassiz's  name  at 
the  head  of  the  list  and  asks  Professor  Hitchcock 
to  sign  in  the  blank  space  next  below.  Then 
having  worked  out  satisfactorily  with  the  Super- 


4  Not  a  word  of  it  appeared  in  the  newspapers  and  Horsford  does 
not  hesitate  to  intimate  the  general  impression  that  "the  reporters 
vrere  bribed  to  stay  away."  Whatever  the  reason,  the  fact  did  not 
help  Dr.  Emmons. 


HALL'S  GEOLOGICAL  CHART       215 

intendent  of  Public  Instruction  (S.  S.  Randall)  a 
scheme  for  distributing  the  chart  through  11,000 
schoolrooms  in  New  York,  he  induced  the  same 
official  to  propose  to  Joseph  Henry  a  further  dis- 
tribution through  the  Smithsonian,  asking  at  the 
same  time  an  endorsement  of  his  chart.  Professor 
Henry  tells  the  chartist  (September,  1851)  that 
"  the  committee  refuse  to  recommend  that  a  cer- 
tificate be  given  on  the  ground  that  the  object  of 
the  Institution  is  the  promotion  or  increase  of 
knozvledge,  not  its  diffusion/' 

James  D.  Dana,  learning  of  the  plan  for  the  wide 
distribution  of  the  Hall  chart  and  having  been  in- 
cubating the  preparation  of  a  text-book,  on  geology, 
writes  to  Hall  as  follows  (March,  1851)  :  "  I  have 
for  some  time  contemplated  a  Geology  of  about  the 
size  of  Lyell's  new  work  and  should  I  undertake  it 
I  should  endeavor  to  make  it  subservient  to  the 
interests  of  your  chart,  feeling  at  the  same  time, 
I  acknowledge,  that  the  book  would  derive  as  much 
benefit  by  this  action  as  it  gives.  I  have  never 
heard  it  intimated  that  you  had  such  a  work  in 
contemplation  [Hall's  intentions  in  this  regard 
were  now  ten  years  old],  or  any  work  of  the  kind 
beyond  a  small  volume  to  accompany  the  chart 
adapted  for  the  schools  of  the  State.  Such  a 
volume  the  chart  could  have  as  its  attendant/' 

The  chart  was  a  success  scientifically  and  com- 
mercially but  Dana's  Text-book  was  not  to  ride 


216  JAMES  HALL 

into  fame  on  the  back  of  a  chart.    It  did  not  appear 
for  more  than  ten  years  later. 

And  so,  with  his  feverish  and  unrestrained  im- 
pulses, Hall  was  continuously  involving  himself  in 
odd  and  often  difficult  situations  and  as  his  biogra- 
pher I  am  very  glad  that  my  subject  added  spice 
and  color  to  his  record  by  keeping  his  colleagues  on 
the  qui  vive,  with  or  without  cause. 


THE  PERIOD  OF  VOLUME  II  —  1847-1852  —  Continued 


Survey  of  the  Lake  Superior  Mineral  Lands  —  Charles  T. 
Jackson  —  Trouble  with  his  assistants  —  John  W. 
Foster  and  Josiah  D.  Whitney  in  charge  —  Hall  joins 
the  expedition  —  His  relations  to  it  —  Whitney's  letters 
—  Hall's  important  report  on  Parallelism  of  Geological 
Formations  —  D.  D.  and  Richard  Owen  —  Trouble  with 
Foster  —  Boston  matters  — Agassiz  and  Desor  —  Palae- 
ontological  Troubles  —  Hall's  acquisitiveness  —  Devel- 
oping his  estate  —  Death  of  Andrew  J.  Downing  —  The 
red  brick  "  Office  "  —  Emmons  as  an  agriculturist. 

IN  1847  the  Federal  Government  undertook,  on 
behalf  of  the  General  Land  Office,  a  survey  of 
the  Northern  Peninsula  of  Michigan,  with  the 
purpose  of  ascertaining  the  quality  of  the  lands  in 
this  new  State  and  establishing  a  classification  of 
them.  Doctor  Charles  T.  Jackson  was  placed  in 
charge  of  this  survey  of  these  Lake  Superior 
mineral  lands.  We  have  referred  to  Doctor  Jack- 
son as  a  man  of  great  attainments  and  versatile 
genius.  He  had  already  executed  geological  sur- 
veys of  Rhode  Island,  New  Hampshire  and  Maine, 
but  prior  to  this,  as  a  young  doctor  of  medicine,  he 
had  rendered  a  great  service  in  the  hospitals  at 
Vienna  during  a  devastating  outbreak  of  cholera; 
he  had  aided  S.  F.  B.  Morse  in  the  construction  of 
his  telegraph  registering  devices,  and  his  claim  to 

[217] 


218  JAMES  HALL 

have  devised  and  put  in  practice  the  application  of 
ether  in  anesthetization  before  either  Dr.  Morton's 
or  Dr.  Wells's  experimentation,  is  a  matter  of 
record  and  this  claim  was  recognized  by  the  French 
Academy  with  distinguished  honor.1 

Jackson  had  already  made  acquaintance  with  the 
new  copper  country  of  the  Great  Lakes  and  for  this 
survey  he  associated  with  himself  several  men  of 
excellent  experience ;  John  Locke  of  Cincinnati  and 
Wolcott  Gibbs  of  Harvard;  John  W.  Foster  of 
Ohio  and  Josiah  D.  Whitney  of  Northampton.  In 
spite  of,  and  perhaps  because  of  his  versatility, 
Jackson's  personality  was  unpleasing.  He  lacked 
adaptability  and  consideration  of  others'  opinions 
and  in  this  Government  undertaking  he  was  soon 
at  loggerheads  with  his  superiors  at  Washington, 
with  his  assistants  and  with  practically  every  pri- 
vate mining  interest  which  had  ventured  into  the 
Lake  Superior  country. 

"Alas  these  squabbles,"  writes  Gould  to  Hall  (May  1849). 
"  Shall  we  ever  emerge  from  them  ?  On  Saturday  evening 


1  Occasion  may  here  be  taken  to  correct  statements  which  have 
been  printed  regarding  Jackson's  alleged  connection  with  the  New 
York  Survey.  Dr.  Merrill  says  he  was  "  appointed  one  of  the  State 
Geologists  of  New  York  but  declined "  (p.  702)  ;  and  Dr.  j.  B. 
Woodworth  states,  in  his  biographical  sketch,  that  Jackson  was 
called  on  in  1839  to  draw  a  plan  for  the  New  York  Survey,  a  state- 
ment repeated  in  Appleton's  Cyclopedia  of  American  Biography. 
I  have  never  seen  documentary  evidence  that  Jackson  at  any  time 
had  any  official  relations  with  the  New  York  work  or  with  the  New 
York  men. 


CHARLES  T.  JACKSON  219 

[at  a  meeting  of  the  Boston  Society]  Foster  and  Whitney 
made  their  appearance  stating  that  in  consequence  of  infor- 
mation received  from  Washington  giving  them  warning  that 
as  the  Western  men  were  about  taking  means  to  have  Dr. 
Jackson  removed  for  inefficiency,  idleness,  disagreeableness 
and  other  obnoxious  reasons  and  that  they  [F.  and  W.] 
were  to  be  involved  as  aiders  and  abettors  of  his  miscon- 
duct, they  had  resolved  that  a  separation  must  take  place, 
that  they  would  resign  and  show  him  the  reasons.  That  the 
only  terms  on  which  they  could  continue  on  the  Survey  would 
be  that  Jackson  himself  should  resign  in  their  favor." 

Jackson  did  resign,  and  Foster  and  Whitney 
were  placed  in  charge  of  the  survey.  Meanwhile, 
in  1848,  Agassiz,  with  Edouard  Desor  his  secre- 
tary, Jules  Marcou,  who  had  just  arrived  from 
France,  and  a  small  party  of  Cambridge  students, 
made  a  trip  into  the  Lake  Superior  country.  Agas- 
siz was  looking  for  fishes  and  glacial  scratches, 
Desor  was  better  competent  in  drift  phenomena 
and  geological  structures,  while  Marcou 2  went 
along  for  what  he  could  see  and  get. 


1  "  My  friend  Mr.  Marcou,"  writes  De  Verneuil  by  way  of  intro- 
duction to  Hall  (Paris,  March  26,  1848),  "is  sent  by  our  National 
Museum  to  explore  the  rocky  mountains.  He  is  a  good  geologist 
and  a  very  kind  young  man."  "  Marcou  came  to  this  country,"  said 
Hall  (my  notes  of  his  conversation,  November,  1895)  "  as  a  repre- 
sentative of  the  Geological  Society  of  France  commissioned  to 
make  for  them  collections  of  American  fossils.  He  came  to  me 
and  I  entertained  him  at  my  home  and  sent  him  into  the  Helder- 
bergs  but  he  was  too  lazy  to  get  fossils ;  he  was  very  tall  and  it 
hurt  him  to  stoop  over."  Marcou's  later  relations  with  Hall  became 
greatly  strained  over  the  Taconic  controversy. 


220  JAMES  HALL 

Hall  had  already  been  into  this  country  in  a  pri- 
vate capacity  and  he  was  familiar  with  the  labors 
and  the  field  operations  of  David  Dale  Owen  and 
Colonel  Charles  Whittlesey.  His  definite  engage- 
ment with  Foster  and  Whitney  seems  to  have  been 
the  result  of  a  letter  written  by  Whitney  to  Hall 
in  which  the  young  enthusiast  dares  to  tell  the 
New  York  protagonist  that  the  Lake  Superior 
rocks  will  not  fit  into  his  System  of  Formations. 
Hall  tells  Whitney  (May,  1849)  very  plainly  that 
Lake  Superior  is  not  the  place  to  settle  questions  of 
geological  nomenclature : 

"  In  response  to  your  views  on  the  subject  of  geological 
nomenclature,  I  do  not  agree  with  you  in  feeling  so  much 
inconvenience  in  the  multitude  of  names  which  have  grown 
out  of  the  results  of  investigations  in  different  and  distant 
localities,  but  admitting  them  to  exist,  the  Lake  Superior 
Region  is  not  the  place  to  settle  that  question.  Unless  you 
have  a  great  mass  of  new  facts  you  will  not  succeed  in 
changing  any  name  now  applied  and  I  tell  you  candidly  and 
with  the  best  will  toward  your  labors  that  your  labor  will 
be  lost." 

It  became  evident  at  once  to  Foster  and  Whitney 
that  Hall  as  a  collaborator  would  be  safer  for  them 
and  their  work  than  Hall  as  a  reviewer,  and  the 
following  year  he  was  enlisted  by  them  in  their 
undertaking.  Desor,  who  was  a  pretty  good  geolo- 
gist and  was  now  following  with  personal  acquaint- 
ance the  proceedings  in  the  Lake  Superior  District 
writes  (Cambridge,  Feb.  13,  1850): 


THE  LAKE  SUPERIOR  SURVEY    221 

"  It  seems  to  me  that  the  very  extensive  range  of  the 
Trenton  should  be  dwelt  upon  more  than  it  is  commonly 
done,  and  if  you  were  not  a  palaeontologist  or  rather  the 
palaeontologist  KOT'  efo^jyv,  I  would  beg  leave  to  parallelise 
these  infra-Trenton  groups  with  the  Cambrian  of  Sedgwick." 

With  such  repugnant  sentiments  as  these  abroad, 
we  can  readily  believe  that  Hall  felt  it  his  duty, 
when  the  proposition  came  to  him,  to  enter  this 
Lake  Superior  field  and  help  put  these  men  right. 
So  in  1850  he  joined  this  undertaking,  as  did 
also  Desor,  who  was  to  study  the  Drift  problems. 
Colonel  Whittlesey  was  also  a  member  of  the  sur- 
vey, giving  his  attention  to  problems  of  topography 
and  terrestrial  magnetism.3 

Mr.  Hall  did  not  get  started  till  late  in  August 
and  he  carried  in  his  pocket  a  note  from  Desor  to 
Leo  Lesquereux  then  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  written 
from  Washington  Harbor,  Pottawotomy  Island 
(Isle  Royale),  which  was  by  way  of  introduction  to 
another  of  the  small  army  of  Swiss  emigres  then 
pursuing  American  science.4 

8  Charles  Whittlesey,  graduate  of  West  Point  and  colonel  in  the 
U.  S.  Army  during  the  Civil  War,  rendered  service  of  a  high 
order  in  the  exploration  of  the  Upper  Great  Lakes  and  Mississippi 
country.  He  was  connected  with  every  official  expedition  engaged 
in  opening  this  rich  mining  country,  and  in  any  competent  history 
of  American  geology  his  work  must  be  accorded  important  place. 
(See  his  memorial  by  Alexander  Winchell  in  American  Geologist, 
September,  1889). 

4  Lesquereux,  an  accomplished  botanist,  was  one  of  the  Neuf- 
chatelois  who  followed  Agassiz  and  Guyot  to  this  country-  After 


222  JAMES  HALL 

"  These  lines  have  no  other  purpose  than  to  make  you 
acquainted  with  Mr.  James  Hall,  the  celebrated  New  York 
palaeontologist  and  this  year  one  of  the  members  of  our 
expedition.  Be  kind  enough  to  take  him  to  the  quarries  at 
Columbus,  where  we  were  together.  If  perchance  you  or 
your  sons  have  collected  some  fossils  for  me,  kindly  turn 
them  over  to  Mr.  Hall.  /That  is  the  best  use  you  can  make 
of  them,  for  he  is  a  much  better  judge  than  I  am." 

After  leaving  Columbus  Hall  went  to  Green  Bay 
where  he  joined  Colonel  Whittlesey,  canoed  up  the 
Fox  River  to  Lake  Winnebago  and  on  to  Fond  du 
Lac.  The  next  year  he  got  further  north  along 
the  lake  shore,  returning  by  way  of  Milwaukee. 
In  the  winter  between,  the  members  of  the  survey 
were  engaged  in  outlining  their  reports  and  the  fol- 
lowing letter  from  Foster  is  of  interest  in  intimat- 
ing how  his  work  was  to  be  divided: 

BRIMFIELD,  CONN.,  1st  Dec.,  1850. 
MY  DEAR  MR.  HALL  :— 

I  expect  to  go  to  Washington  about  the  I3th  of  this  month. 
I  shall  propose  to  Whitney  to  meet  in  Albany,  if  agreeable 
to  you,  during  the  latter  part  of  next  week,  in  order  to 
consult  with  regard  to  the  nomenclature,  etc.  of  the  rocks. 
You  had  better  take  occasion  to  go  to  Boston,  therefore, 
this  week.  Whitney  and  I  will  describe  the  geology  of  the 


a  brief  stay  in  Boston  he  went  to  Columbus  where  he  became  asso- 
ciated with  William  S.  Sullivant  in  his  work  upon  American  mosses. 
His  subsequent  career,  in  which  he  attained  great  excellence,  was 
devoted  to  the  study  of  fossil  plants. 


FOSTER'S  LETTER  223 

Azoic  System  and  of  the  Potsdam  Sandstone  as  developed 
on  Lake  Superior,  as  we  are  more  familiar  with  its  distribu- 
tion and  mineral  character  than  you.  I  wish  you  to  describe 
its  westerly  prolongation,  and  also  the  range  and  extent  of 
the  other  groups  of  the  Silurian,  unless  it  would  relieve  you 
of  much  labor  for  us  to  collate  your  notes.  We  do  not  wish 
you  to  address  a  formal  report  to  us,  but  to  take  up  the 
description  of  the  rocks  where  we  leave  it.  We  shall  state 
that  the  chapters  on  the  Silurian  were  composed  by  Mr. 
Hall,  those  on  the  Drift  by  Mr.  Desor,  that  on  magnetism  by 
Mr.  Whittlesey,  etc.  In  this  respect  the  report  will  be  a 
unity.  I  have  written  about  a  hundred  pages,  which  I  wish 
you  to  read  and  criticise  freely.  It  is  better  for  us  to  dis- 
cuss these  questions  before  the  publication  of  the  Report 
than  after.  Two  years  ago  you  thought  me  a  little  wild, 
but  I  trust  that  you  are  now  satisfied  that  I  was  not  far 
from  right.  I  think  that  our  district  contains  some  new 
facts  in  geology  and  if  we  bring  them  out  properly  we  can 
not  fail  of  acquiring  some  credit. 

I  was  disposed  to  consult  with  Owen  and  adopt  a  com- 
mon system  of  classification  for  the  rocks  of  both  districts, 
and  in  fact  we  were  instructed  by  the  Committee  to  do  it, 
but  Owen  has  treated  me  so  rudely  that  I  shall  make  no 
farther  advances.  He  is  welcome  to  all  the  glory  in  de- 
scribing the  New  Red  Sandstone  of  Lake  Superior  and  the 
Silurian  groups  800  feet  below  the  Potsdam.  You  did  not 
write  whether  you  saw  him. 

As  the  New  York  Survey  is  the  only  one  in  which  the 
matured  results  have  been  communicated  to  the  world,  it 
seems  to  me  no  more  than  justice  that  the  nomenclature 
applied  to  the  different  groups  in  that  state  should  be 
adopted  so  far  as  they  can  be  recognized  in  other  states. 
Your  work  on  Palaeontology  must  form  the  standard  of 
reference  for  the  whole  country. 


224  JAMES  HALL 

I  have  received  Whittlesey's  notes  on  the  Topography  of 
the  Silurian  groups  which  I  will  pass  over  to  you  when  we 

meet'  Yours  truly, 

J.  W.  FOSTER. 
JAMES  HALL,  ESQ., 

Albany. 

In  the  early  months  of  1851  the  attention  of  both 
Hall  and  Whitney  was  engrossed  with  other  mat- 
ters—  the  foster  (as  Whitney  wrote  the  name 
distinctively)  suits  and  the  Albany  University 
for  one,  a  trip  to  Europe  for  the  other;  but  Hall 
went  west  as  soon  as  the  Agassiz  trial  was  over 
and  got  back  before  Whitney  left  the  country,  and 
so  Whitney  writes  to  him,  in  his  usual  whimsical 
vein: 

"  The  What  d'ye  call-ems  of  the  Pitchered  Rocks  —  have 
you  satisfied  yourself  what  they  are?  I  mean  the  Fucoides 
duplex  (or  the  Fucoides  do  perplex)  of  the  Grand  Portal. 
I  have  not  heard  from  you  in  so  long  that  for  aught  I  know 
you  may  have  rolled  yourself  up  in  a  ball  and  got  petrified." 

There  is  a  thread  of  joyous  nonsense  that  runs 
all  through  the  correspondence  of  these  young  fel- 
lows though  it  was  principally  the  outburst  of 
Whitney's  unrestrained  enthusiasm.  In  the  early 
winter  of  1851,  Foster  and  Whitney  met  in  Phila- 
delphia for  the  purpose  of  writing  their  reports 
and  there  they  are  joined  by  Desor  and  Dana. 
Amid  their  reports  they  are  dreaming  dreams  and 
scheming  schemes.  Desor  and  Whitney  agree 


WRITING  REPORTS  225 

that  they  will  write  a  joint  Text-book  on  Geology, 
to  which  Dana  demurs,  having  already  in  mind  one 
of  his  own.  Then  with  Henry  Rogers  for  an  ad- 
visor, they  are  going  to  organize  a  Geological 
Society  and  "  Rogers  will  second  anything  that  may 
be  done  with  all  his  might  and  main.  We  have 
thought  of  having  a  permanent  location  in  some 
city  where  a  library  and  collection  might  be  gradu- 
ally gathered  together,  and  where  eventually  a 
Journal  devoted  to  the  Science  of  Geology  in  the 
widest  sense  of  the  term  might  be  edited." 

There  they  sit  together  "  over  a  cheery  wood 
fire,"  "  trying  to  knock  your  manuscript  into  proper 
shape  for  the  printer,"  and  Whitney  in  despair  de- 
clares to  Hall,  "  I  wish  to  heaven  you  would  put 
yourself  into  the  postoffice  or  mount  the  telegraph 
wires  and  come  on."  Into  these  solemn  sessions 
Joseph  LeConte  occasionally  strolls  and  he  gives 
them  "  the  honor  of  dining  with  us  today.  During 
the  dinner,  on  the  strength  of  a  bottle  of  claret,  I 
believe  that  he  and  Foster  cooked  up  a  plan  of  ex- 
ploring the  valley  of  the  Missouri  under  the  patron- 
age of  the  Smithsonian  Institution."  Hall  writes 
that  he  had  agreed  with  the  Governor  to  complete 
his  Palaeontology  in  two  years  and  that  he  is  busy ; 
whereat  Whitney  jocularly  remarks  that  the  sug- 
gestion is  "  a  good  one.  Allow  me  to  invite  you  to 
a  small  oyster  supper  to  be  given  when  the  last 
volume  makes  its  appearance !  " 

15 


226  JAMES  HALL 

These  sessions  broke  up  before  the  beginning  of 
the  year ;  first  Foster  "  absquatulated,  having  gone 
home  for  a  turkey-shoot;"  then  Desor,  who  had 
now  fallen  from  Agassiz's  good  graces,  was  plan- 
ning to  go  back  to  Switzerland,  while  Hall  was 
much  occupied  with  his  University  of  Albany, 
where  the  lectures  were  already  beginning.  Soon, 
as  it  turned  out,  Hall  in  the  midst  of  all  these 
things,  his  impending  trial  (which,  however,  never 
came  off),  his  University,  his  Palaeontology,  had 
produced  for  this  report  not  alone  an  account  of 
the  fossils  of  the  lower  rocks  but  a  very  important 
thesis  on  the  Parallelism  of  the  American  Palaeo- 
zoic Formations  with  those  of  Europe,  the  most 
comprehensive  presentation  of  this  subject  that  had 
yet  been  made  and  one  of  lasting  value,  for  it  in- 
stituted a  grouping  of  the  f ormational  units  which 
still  demands  recognition.5  It  outlined  the  classi- 
fication given  by  Dana  at  the  Providence  meeting 
of  the  American  Association  in  1855,  and  which 
has  been  perpetuated  in  influential  editions  of 
Dana's  Manual. 

There  had  arisen  among  the  geologists  of  this 
Lake  Superior  expedition  a  singular  antipathy  to 
the  work  and  conclusions  of  David  Dale  Owen  in 
the  upper  Mississippi  Valley.  It  is  a  feeling  that 
breaks  out  repeatedly  though  it  was  never  shown 

'Parallelism  of  the  Palaeozoic  Deposits  of  Europe  and  America 

1851. 


RICHARD  AND  DALE  OWEN        227 

by  Hall,  whose  fidelity  to  his  old  friend  of  New 
Harmony  days  was  never  shaken.  The  trouble 
seems  to  have  arisen  over  doubts  and  debatable 
claims  as  to  the  age  of  the  fossils  in  the  low  sand- 
stones of  St.  Croix  Falls,  Wis.  Desor,  in  1849,  had 
brought  in  and  exhibited  to  the  Boston  Society, 
fossils  which  were  regarded  as  far  below  the  Pots- 
dam sandstone  at  St.  Croix  and  some  time  later 
Richard  Owen  had  given  this  debated  matter  a 
comical  turn  by  expressing  the  opinion  that  certain 
fragmentary  trilobites  from  the  same  rocks  were 
"vertebrates."  This  tickled  Whitney  who  had 
now  gone  back  to  Boston  and  when  these  views 
were  reviewed  before  the  Society  he  writes  mis- 
chievously to  Hall  (May,  1852) : 

"  Have  you  heard  that  [Richard]  Owen  has  eaten  up  his 
vertebrates  of  the  Potsdam  and  that  after  digesting  they 
have  come  out  crustaceans?  I  will  bring  you  his  remarks. 
They  are  rich.  Desor  was  present  at  the  meeting.  Agas- 
siz  is  here  and  intends  to  remain  here  during  the  summer. 
He  was,  as  you  might  imagine,  highly  tickled  at  the  Oweni- 
ana.  The  other  Owen,  the  '  D  —  D  '  one,  has  been  doing 
something  extraordinary  in  the  chemical  way,  viz,  attempt- 
ing a  new  earth.  Let  us  hope  that  he  will  give  us  next  a 
new  heaven!" 

The  honorable  and  important  part  taken  by  Hall 
was  appreciated  by  the  responsible  heads  of  the 
undertaking,  and  Whitney's  letters  are  written  on 
stationery  carrying  an  embossed  device  at  the  top 


228  JAMES  HALL 

—  three  linked  rings,  the  two  at  the  side  enclosing 
the  initials  F  and  W ,  that  in  the  middle  an  H.  But 
notwithstanding  this  pretty  symbol  of  F  and  W 
standing  locked-armed  with  H,  the  inevitable  rup- 
ture followed  and  by  1852  Hall  is  writing  to  Pro- 
fessor Henry  a  most  violent  series  of  charges 
against  Foster  for  pirating  and  selling  his  geologi- 
cal map  of  the  United  States  which  he  had  been 
engaged  on  since  1843  and  had  displayed  on  various 
occasions.  He  makes  out  a  serious  case,  for  there 
is  a  letter  in  the  files  by  Foster  himself,  telling  with 
some  glee  how  he  made  a  copy  of  the  map  and  sold 
it  to  the  Land  Office  for  a  considerable  sum  and 
was  proposing  to  make  one  for  the  Smithsonian 
at  Professor  Henry's  request.  It  was  the  same 
map,  now  improved  with  time,  that  had  made  the 
trouble  between  Hall  and  Lyell  ten  years  before; 
the  same  confiding  disposition  and  the  same  furious 
resentfulness  when  he  .believed  himself  imposed 
upon.  So  when  Governor  Grimes,  a  few  years 
later,  asks  for  his  opinion  of  Foster,  saying  that  he 
has  been  recommended  to  him  for  State  Geologist 
of  Iowa,  Hall  writes: 

"  It  would  not  be  proper  for  me  to  reply  to  this  question. 
A  reference  to  Professor  Agassiz  of  Cambridge  or  Profes- 
sors Bache  and  Henry  at  Washington  would  elicit  reliable 
information.  The  Governor  could  also  inquire  of  Profes- 
sor Swallow  or  Doctor  Litton  of  the  Missouri  Survey.  I 
might  mention  that  Mr.  Foster  is  at  present  one  of  the 
Executive  Council  of  Governor  Gardner  of  Massachusetts 


TRYING  TO  RAISE  MONEY        229 

and  it  may  be  that  his  prospects  of  political  preferment 
would  interfere  with  his  acceptance  of  the  position  in 
Iowa." 

Hall's  touch  with  the  affairs  of  the  Boston  circle 
was  kept  intimate  all  during  this  period.  He  had 
been  the  principal  agent  in  securing  the  appoint- 
ment of  Horsford  to  his  professorship  and  Hors- 
ford's  earliest  relations  at  Cambridge  were  with 
Dr.  Webster,  at  whose  house  for  a  while  he  made 
his  headquarters.  The  tragic  end  of  Dr.  Webster 
cast  a  pall  over  the  entire  circle  and  the  Boston  let- 
ters of  this  period  were  filled  with  gloom.  Hors- 
ford was  perambulating  Boston  trying  to  borrow 
money  on  Hall's  collection;  first  from  Amos  Law- 
rence, Jr.,  but  his  money  had  all  been  tied  up  in  the 
"  Wisconsin  College  at  Appleton;  "  in  his  sympathy 
for  a  great  scientist  in  trouble  Mr.  Lawrence  went 
over  to  interview  William  Appleton,  Nathan  Ap- 
pleton and  John  A.  Howe.  No  money  came  and 
Horsford  suggests  that  Hall  take  out  an  insurance 
on  the  life  of  his  wife  and  use  that  as  security,  and 
also  casually  advised  him  "  to  take  a  light  break- 
fast and  a  walk  of  two  hours  toward  the  close  of 
the  day." 

Agassiz  has  "  cleared  his  house  of  all  the  loafers, 
stays  at  home  almost  all  the  time,  has  hired  a 
phonographer  and  is  going  ahead  on  his  own  hook, 
no  thanks  to  Desor,  Gould  or  anybody  else.  He  is 
now  engaged  on  the  '  Unity  of  Races  '  question  " 


230  JAMES  HALL 

(Gould's  letters).  Desor  was  in  trouble,  for 
Agassiz,  had  severed  relations  with  him.  Desor 
had  even  gone  to  the  length  of  making  deliberate 
charges  against  Agassiz  in  the  presence  of  Mr. 
Lowell,  Mr.  Storer  and  T.  B.  Curtiss,  governors  of 
the  Lawrence  School  and  Gould  says  (January, 
1849)  that  though  Desor  is  giving  lectures  "  in 
geology  to  about  25  persons,  I  do  not  attend  them, 
being  no  longer  on  good  terms  with  him."  The 
situation  troubled  Agassiz :  "  I  have  felt  so  un- 
happy about  various  occurrences  during  the  last 
year  that  I  have  led  a  very  secluded  life  to  myself 
and  the  studies  of  my  choice.  Now  I  have  my  boy 
with  me  and  I  feel  brighter  and  my  friends  must 
experience  it"  (June,  1849). 

After  his  work  on  the  Foster  and  Whitney 
Survey  was  over,  Desor  decided  to  return  to 
Europe.  The  loss  of  Agassiz's  friendship  in  those 
years  was  an  irreparable  damage  and  he  had  un- 
wisely precipitated  himself  into  an  action  at  law 
against  Lieutenant  Davis,  a  member  of  the  Ameri- 
can Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences  in  Boston,  alleg- 
ing slander;  an  act  which  led  Benjamin  Peirce  to 
move  Desor's  expulsion  from  the  Academy,  al- 
though Desor  was  sustained  in  his  action  by  the 
court.  Desor  is  frequent  in  his  letters  to  Hall, 
many  of  them  charmingly  written  and  full  of  clear- 
headed suggestions  regarding  geological  matters, 


DESOR'S  FAREWELL  231 

but  he  closed  his  correspondence  in  February,  1852, 
on  the  eve  of  his  departure,  with  the  words: 
"  Bitter  as  my  experiences  have  been  in  this 
country,  I  will  treasure  the  more  the  recollection 
of  those  whom  I  can  respect  and  I  hope  that  you 
will  dispose  of  me  in  all  circumstances  whenever 
and  wherever  I  can  be  of  any  use  to  you." 

During  these  years  Hall  seems  to  have  developed 
at  times  a  sort  of  pantophobia  over  his  Palaeon- 
tology. His  engravers  troubled  him  tremendously. 
They  had  contracts  with  the*  Governor  on  which 
they  could  not  realize  unless  Hall  furnished  them 
with  "  copy,"  and  he  declared  that  neither  Science 
nor  he  should  be  forced  into  undue  haste.  So  the 
engravers  complain  and  Hall  breaks  out  into 
lamentations.  To  him  Gould  sends  sympathetic  con- 
dolence (July,  1849) : 

"A  scientific  book  can  not  be  written  like  a  sermon  or  a 
book  of  travels.  Ask  any  of  your  politicians  how  much 
longer  it  would  take  him  to  write  a  quarto  volume  of  Fourth 
of  July  Toasts,  which  he  expected  would  be  clapped  for 
their  pith  and  brevity,  or  a  volume  of  congressional  speeches 
or  newspaper  leaders,  and  he  will  have  some  idea  of  the  dif- 
ference between  them  and  your  Geology.  Surely  it  would 
be  a  just  cause  for  the  scientific  world  and  all  the  lovers  of 
enlightened  legislation  the  world  over  to  denounce  the  Em- 
pire State  if  they  should  throw  obstacles  in  the  way  of  a 
work  of  so  much  importance,  so  anxiously  anticipated,  so 
satisfactorily  executed  thus  far,  and  so  far  advanced  toward 
completion." 


232  JAMES  HALL 

As  soon  as  some  legislator  makes  an  inquiry 
about  expenditures  or  asks  to  be  informed,  or  a 
committee  is  advised  to  look  into  the  work  of  this 
extraordinary  official  standing  out  alone  without 
obligation  to  any  bureau  or  department  of  State 
nearer  than  the  Governor's  office,  Hall  is  sure  to 
make  a  ramp  among  his  friends  with  mingled 
bathos  and  denunciation;  to  their  mixed  delight, 
distress  and  disgust.  Such  recurrent  situations 
were  innocent  enough  in  themselves  and  brought 
upon  him  some  advice  from  Randall,  his  friend  of 
Cortlandville,  soon  to  be  Secretary  of  State: 

"  I  have  not  the  most  remote  idea  that  the  work  will  be 
suspended  and  believing  that  the  Geologists  will  be  found 
clean  handed  of  all  connivance  with  peculators,  if  any  pecu- 
lators there  have  been,  I  regard  their  triumphant  vindica- 
tion from  all  such  charges,  open  or  covert,  as  certain.  And 
crazy  must  that  man  be  who  would  propose  to  hold  them 
responsible  for  the  acts  of  our  Governors  and  Legislative 
Committees !  For  God's  sake,  Hall,  discharge  this1  irritating 
subject  from  your  mind,  save  your  strength  for  yourself, 
your  family  and  science,  and  do  not  wear  it  away  by  suf- 
fering yourself  to  be  annoyed  and  fretted  by  circumstances 
which  you  will  laugh  at  when  they  have  passed  by." 

The  collector  of  whatever  it  may  be,  is  or  should 
be  a  connoisseur,  whether  of  science,  art  or  buttons. 
The  great  collectors  of  the  world  have  been  the 
founders  of  the  great  museums  of  the  world  and  no 
man  can  be  a  great  collector  unless  head  and  purse 
are  dominated  by  an  all  absorbing  and  exclusive 


BORROWING  AND  RETURNING     233 

zeal  touching  close  on  madness.  If  the  collector's 
temperament  is  not  from  on  High  it  is  at  least  Wal- 
polian.  To  the  vision  of  the  collector  there  can  be 
naught  else  than  misdirection  in  the  distribution 
of  his  objets  when  he  sees  them  in  another's  pos- 
session. Professor  Hall  enjoyed  through  a  long 
life  a  repute,  honestly  enough  come  by,  for  extra- 
ordinary tenacity  of  another's  materials,  borrowed 
by  him  as  imperatively  essential  to  his  scientific  in- 
vestigations. My  long  acquaintance  with  him  ac- 
quits him  fully  of  any  deliberate  intention  to  with- 
hold. He  borrowed  and  it  may  be  he  hoped  the 
owner  might  be  generously  moved  or  might  forget, 
and  there  was  always  a  chance  that  eternal  nepen- 
the would  take  his  part.  He  himself  could  appre- 
ciate these  objects  best  of  all;  why  should  they  be 
scattered  over  the  earth  out  of  their  proper  associa- 
tion and  remote  from  their  usefulness?  He  did 
return  borrowed  specimens,  but  unquestionably 
with  many  a  wrench  of  heart  as  he  saw  them  pass 
out  of  their  predestined  association.  This  extra- 
ordinary tenacity  and  absorptive  disposition  filled 
him  as  full  as  St.  Anthony  with  the  arrows  of  his 
critics,  and  sometimes  these  shafts  were  sharp  and 
poisoned ;  yet  I  liken  him  to  St.  Anthony  for  he  was 
blameless  of  evil.  He  did  indeed  keep  certain  beau- 
tiful crinoids,  brought  together  by  Dr.  Troost  of 
Tennessee,  and  which  he  had  on  loan  from  the 
Smithsonian  Institution  from  1852  until  his  death 


234  JAMES  HALL 

—  a  matter  of  46  years,  but  that  was  rather  an  ex- 
ceptional case.6 

I  cite  a  single  characteristic  letter  illustrative  of 
this  constructive  trait,  one  which  his  correspond- 
ence would  many  times  duplicate. 

GREATFIELD,  near  AURORA,  N.  Y. 
JAMES  HALL:-  9  mo.  .852. 

Some  time  ago  I  wrote  to  Professor  Horsford  of  Harvard 
University  to  inquire  what  had  become  of  the  fossil  which 
belonged  to  Amos  R.  Willets  and  which  was  borrowed  of 
him  in  the  Summer  of  1838.  His  answer  was  that  the 
shell  had  been  put  in  thy  hands  to  give  thee  opportunity  to 
draw  and  describe  it,  hoping  that  it  might  be  spared  a  little 
longer  for  that  purpose.  Now  the  owner  is  anxious  to 
obtain  it  and  if  thou  would  send  it  to  me  or  put  it  in  Luther 
Tucker's  hands  I  should  be  greatly  obliged  as  it  was  through 
a  letter  from  me  that  Professor  Horsford  obtained  it. 
Thy  friend, 

DAVID  THOMAS 

'Which  had  better  be  set  right  now  because  of  the  publicity 
given  to  it  after  his  death.  Hall  and  Agassiz  entered  into  an  agree- 
ment with  Professor  Henry  to  prepare  and  illustrate  a  monograph 
of  these  crinoids  for  publication  by  the  Smithsonian  Institution. 
The  agreement  called  for  the  acquisition  by  loan  of  similar  out- 
standing materials  in  private  collections,  for  the  preparation  of 
necessary  drawings  and  for  compensation  to  the  authors.  The 
drawings  were  made  by  Mr.  Meek,  Hall's  assistant,  and  paid  for  by 
Hall.  It  does  not  appear  that  Agassiz  ever  took  any  part  in  the 
work,  but  the  descriptive  matter  was  in  part,  at  least,  prepared. 
Just  what  happened  at  this  point  is  not  evident  except  that  the 
Smithsonian  made  no  reimbursements  for  drawing  or  labor  and 
Professor  Hall  held  all  of  the  material,  as  he  thought  himself  jus- 
tified in  doing,  until  the  Smithsonian  should  adjust  the  matter; 
which  it  never  did. 


THE  HOME  ESTATE  235 

Once,  when  under  an  imputation  of  this  kind 
from  one  whom  he  had  substantially  befriended,  he 
wrote  (to  W.  H.  Barris)  : 

"  It  is  quite  sure  that  I  can  not  always  do  all  the  work 
that  I  lay  out  for  myself  and  consequently  can  not  finish 
with  a  set  of  fossils  always  at  the  time  I  may  appoint.  How- 
ever, I  can  not  change  mankind  or  control  men's  tongues. 
I  am  necessarily  shut  up  and  hard  at  work  and  can  not  go 
about  to  gossip  with  my  neighbors  nor  have  I  an  opportunity 
of  defending  myself  from  the  ill-natured  remarks  of  those 
who  profess  to  be  my  friends,  or  those  who  are  my  enemies. 
I  suppose  my  destiny  is  to  work  on  in  the  same  way  to  the 
end." 

Amidst  all  the  various  activities  of  these  years 
Mr.  Hall  was  busied  in  developing  his  new  Beaver- 
kill  property  on  the  outskirts  of  the  city.  He  was 
still  setting  out  ornamental  and  fruit  trees  and  in 
planning  his  new  estate  he  had  engaged  the  aid  of 
Downing  and  Vaux  of  New  York;  Andrew  J. 
Downing  and  Calvert  Vaux,  the  most  distinguished 
of  American  rural  artists.  Downing  and  Vaux 
had  laid  out  the  parking  of  the  Capitol  and  the 
Smithsonian  at  Washington,  and  after  the  death 
of  Mr.  Downing,  Mr.  Vaux  planned  and  developed 
many  important  public  works;  the  Central  Park 
enlargement,  Prospect  Park,  Riverside  and  Morn- 
ingside  Parks  and  the  Niagara  Falls  Reservation. 
While  engaged  for  Mr.  Hall,  Mr.  Downing  was 
drowned  in  1852,  in  the  burning  of  the  Hudson 
River  steamer  "  Henry  Clay,"  on  which  he  was  a 


236  JAMES  HALL 

passenger.  Of  this  event  Mr.  Hall  is  informed  by 
Mr.  Vaux  and  in  replying  writes  from  the  steam- 
boat "  Statesman  "  on  the  Ohio  river : 

"It  is  not  saying  too  much  that  Mr.  Downing  was  doing 
more  to  cultivate  and  elevate  the  tastes  of  our  people  than 
ali  others  and  therefore,  if  we  regard  advancement  in  civiliza- 
tion and  refinement  as  our  highest  aim,  he  was  greatly  aid- 
ing in  its  accomplishment.  The  memory  of  Mr.  Downing 
will  live  in  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen  who  will  not  cease 
to  deplore  his  untimely  death." 

On  this  estate  Hall  had  built  a  red  brick  retreat 
in  which  he  assembled  all  the  personnel  and  para- 
phernalia of  his  work.  It  was  a  spreading  one  story 
structure  with  one  large  room  and  galleries  for  his 
collections  assembled  in  some  thousands  of  draw- 
ers, with  a  study  framed  in  books.  Not  long  after, 
he  removed  his  family  to  a  dwelling  on  the  place 
and  some  twenty-five  years  later  built  another  more 
elaborate  house  nearer  to  his  brick  "  office,"  but 
during  many  years  this  red  office  was  his  real  home. 
Here  he  worked  and  slept  and  here  his  associates 
labored  from  the  time  of  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Meek, 
the  first  of  this  long  retinue.  Mr.  Hall's  property 
is  now  a  part  of  a  public  park,  first  appropriately 
named  Beaver  Park,  from  the  Beaverkill  which  had 
cut  a  gorge  through  its  upper  reaches,  but  now 
rechristened  Lincoln  Park  by  a  patriotic  but  un- 
imaginative Common  Council.  The  dwellings  are 
gone  but  the  brick  office  remains;  and  under  a 


TABLET  ON  THE  "OFFICE  "        237 

promise  from  the  city  that  it  shall  continue  to  stay, 
it  has  been  marked  by  a  tablet  carrying  this  inscrip- 
tion: 

This  Building  was  Erected  by 

JAMES  HALL 

State  Geologist  of  New  York 

1836-1898 

For  nearly  fifty  years  it  served  as  his  office  and 
laboratory  and  from  it  graduated  many  geologists 
of  merit  and  distinction.  During  most  of  that 
period  it  was  an  influential  and  active  centre  of 
geological  science  in  this  country. 

Placed  by 

The  Association  of 

American  State  Geologists 

1916 

Doctor  Emmons,  we  have  noticed,  was  now  navi- 
gating pretty  stormy  seas,  but  his  craft  was  a 
picturesque  one,  to  say  the  least.  To  the  Albany 
community  he  stood  as  professor  of  obstetrics  and 
geologist  —  a  weird  combination,  indeed.  To  the 
State  service  he  was  an  agriculturist  and  though 
this  field  of  work  at  first  opened  for  him  the  door  to 
a  full  exposition  of  his  Taconic  System,  it  soon  im- 
pelled him  to  write  about  apples,  potatoes  and 
gooseberries  and  finally,  to  compass  those  agricul- 
tural agencies,  the  insects.  Dana's  letters  after  the 


238  JAMES  HALL 

Foster  trial  did  not  fail  to  make  fun  of  the 
"  Pomologist,"  and  it  is  pretty  evident  that  his 
work  on  the  insects  of  New  York  gave  little  satis- 
faction. The  versatile  Haldeman  had  wanted  to  do 
this  work  and  he  tells  Hall  in  May,  1849,  writing 
from  Columbia,  Pa.: 

"  I  was  called  upon  a  few  weeks  ago  by  two  gentlemen 
of  your  State  in  a  semi-official  way  on  the  subject  of  the 
New  York  Survey,  particularly  the  unfinished  portions  or 
the  Insects.  I  was  informed  that  if  anything  definite 
should  be  done  they  considered  it  probable  that  I  should  be 
the  person  called  upon  to  do  the  work." 

Soon  afterwards  he  told  John  L.  LeConte  of 
this  interview,  whereupon  the  latter  felt  that  he 
ought  to  have  at  least  a  share  in  the  work.  But 
Emmons  went  on  with  it.  Doctor  Haldeman's  for- 
tunes had  gone  amiss  and,  later  in  the  year,  he 
asked  Hall  for  the  curatorship  of  the  State  Cabinet 
and  then  for  a  professorship  in  the  University  of 
Albany;  but  there  seemed  no  opportunity  at  Al- 
bany for  the  use  of  his  effective  talents. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  PALAEONTOLOGY  OF  NEW  YORK 
THE  PERIOD  OF  VOLUME  III—  1853-1860 

1 

Influences  of  Hall's  researches  —  Search  for  an  assistant  — 
Colonel  Jewett  —  Fielding  B.  Meek  —  Ferdinand  V. 
Hayden  —  Expedition  to  the  Mauvaises  Terres ;  its 
difficulties  and  results  —  Relations  with  Meek  — 
Agassiz's  Letters  —  Berkshire  Boulder  Train  —  Lyell 
and  the  Crystal  Palace  Exhibition  —  Joseph  Henry's 
Albany  discoveries ;  correspondence  over  —  Land  and 
Mining  projects  —  Collapse  of  the  Cambridge  plans  — 
The  Bible  and  Geology ;  Tayler  Lewis  and  J.  D.  Dana  — 
Troubles  at  Albany  —  Letters  of  Lincklaen  and  Leaven- 
worth  —  Passage  of  appropriations. 

THE  second  volume  of  the  Palaeontology  was 
now  done.  The  panorama  of  the  life  of  the 
Silurian  System  of  New  York  was  complete 
and,  for  its  author,  the  covers  of  the  ponderous 
book  were  practically  closed.  Now  that  the  burden 
was  lifted  and  he  was  free  for  a  while  from  the 
troubles  of  interminable  proof  reading  and  the 
worries  of  plate  printing,  Hall  determined  to  take 
his  share  in  all  the  issues  of  American  geology  in 
so  far  as  he  might  justly  claim  to  be  competent. 
We  have  had  occasion  to  notice  his  concern  at  this 

[239] 


240  JAMES  HALL 

time  with  the  origination  of  the  University  of 
Albany;  the  fact  also  that  out  of  this  movement 
rose  the  Dudley  Observatory ;  and  it  may  be  added 
that  in  all  the  dark  days  of  the  early  career  of  that 
institution  when  the  feeble  craft  was  driving  with- 
out anchor  and  the  screeching  of  the  storm  winds 
filled  all  the  scientific  atmosphere  of  the  country 
with  stupefaction  and  unnumbered  printed  pages 
with  the  spume  of  battle,  Hall  was  aboard  ship, 
helping  or  hindering  as  best  he  knew  how. 

He  was  conscious  of  his  recognized  supremacy 
in  his  science,  but  he  used  his  commanding  place 
only  to  advance,  or  it  might  be  truly  said  to  control 
its  course.  His  new  volume  had  still  to  find  its 
effect,  but  its  predecessor  had  reared  a  crop  of 
students  in  every  part  of  the  country  where  the 
rocks  of  the  "  Lower  Formations "  were  found 
with  their  fossils.  New  York,  the  parent  state, 
had  a  parent's  generous  return  in  students  and 
collectors,  and  in  the  great  Middlewest,  the 
Palaeozoic  harvest  field  of  the  Ohio  and  Missis- 
sippi valleys,  Palaeontology  I  was  the  only  com- 
petent key  to  the  rocks  and  a  key  with  the  help  of 
which  amateurs  became  professionals  and  collec- 
tors became  State  geologists.  One  after  another, 
the  states  in  this  "  Valley  of  Democracy  "  called 
upon  those  who  understood  their  fossils  to  organ- 
ize their  geological  surveys  and  in  those  days 
Iowa,  Wisconsin  and  Missouri,  Kentucky,  Illinois 


COLONEL  EZEKIEL  JEWETT        241 

and  Ohio,  owed  in  very  large  measure  their 
official  surveys  to  the  impulses  drawn  from  the 
Palaeontology.  How  much  more  might  be  said 
of  a  wider  influence  of  this  sort  need  not  here  be 
sought  out,  but  it  still  stands  to  the  credit  of  those 
states  and  years  that  the  activities  of  pure  science 
led  the  way  and  have  longest  endured.  Now,  by 
consequence  and  contrast,  all  have  become  officially 
"  efficient." 

Up  to  the  time  of  the  completion  of  his 
Volume  II,  Hall  had  done  all  the  work  himself. 
There  was  no  one  competent  to  help  him  in  his 
descriptive  work  even  could  he  have  afforded  to 
pay,  but  now  with  increasing  outside  interests  he 
required  such  an  assistant  in  the  accumulating  and 
handling  of  his  collections.  Among  the  many  col- 
lectors he  had  created  or,  if  not  that,  had  sought 
out  and  encouraged,  none  was  more  enthusiastic 
than  Colonel  Ezekiel  Jewett,  an  unusual  character 
worthy  of  our  especial  notice. 

Colonel  Jewett  had  earned  his  commission  under 
General  Winneld  Scott  at  Chapultepec  and  the 
warrior  was  no  longer  young  when  he  turned  his 
attention  to  the  study  of  fossils.  At  home  in  the 
fruitful  localities  of  central  and  western  New 
York,  these  "  medals  of  creation  "  seem  to  have 
exerted  a  fascination  upon  him  which  inveigled  the 
tough  old  soldier  into  every  form  of  exposure  and 
into  every  sacrifice  of  comfort.  Invincible  in  his 

16 


242  JAMES  HALL 

search  and  accordingly  successful;  intelligent, 
quick  of  apprehension  and  understanding;  exqui- 
sitely and  effectively  profane,  the  "  Colonel " 
became  as  noted  a  figure  among  the  amateur 
geologists  of  his  time  as  he  was  successful  col- 
lector. In  later  years  his  enthusiasm,  with  which 
he  infected  many  good  and  influential  citizens  of 
New  York,  brought  to  him  the  curatorship  of  the 
State  Cabinet  of  Natural  History.  Throughout 
these  years  he  unfailingly  acknowledged  his 
indebtedness  to  Hall  and  even  while  he  often  con- 
demned him  most  effectively  to  his  face,  he  would 
let  no  other  man  do  as  much.1 

Hall  had  also  inspired  David  Christy  of  Oxford, 
Ohio,  an  agent  of  the  Liberian  Colonization 
Society,  who  traveled  much  in  assembling  his 
negroes  in  order  to  send  them  out,  to  what,  in  his 

1  No  distinguished  geological  visitor  came  to  New  York  with- 
out seeking  the  "Colonel"  and  his  collections.  He  had  collected 
in  many  States  and  his  friends  included  Lyell,  Agassiz  and  Desor, 
Dana,  Hitchcock,  Whitney,  Rogers,  Hayden  and  Swallow;  but 
his  influence  went  farther  in  the  case  of  Hall,  for  his  intimacy  with 
Ledyard  Lincklaen  brought  salvation  when  a  few  years  later  there 
seemed  no  place  in  Hall's  firmament  for  the  sun  to  break  through. 
A  few  extracts  from  Jewett's  letters  of  this  time  are  given  as 
illustrations  of  his  struggles  and  his  spirit. 

(Tan.  29,  1853)  "No  one  asks  for  fossils  and  I  don't  be- 
lieve they  ever  will  while  I  have  any  and  the  only  available 
use  I  can  think  of  making  of  them  is  to  cook  them  into  a 
chowder.  Very  few  might  like  to  attend  such  a  clambake. 
Let  me  see  who  I  could  ask  to  the  entertainment?  There  is 
yourself  and  Agassiz,  Randall  and  Lincklaen  —  no,  Lincklaen 
is  getting  tired;  Gebhard  —  no,  he  would  sell  his  share  for  a 


FIELDING  B.  MEEK  243 

letters,  he  calls  "  Ohio  in  Africa  " ;  and  he  finds 
fossils  as  well  as  negroes  all  along  his  pathways. 
John  A.  Warder  of  Cincinnati,  A.  H.  Worthen  of 
Warsaw,  111.,  Sidney  S.  Lyon  of  Jeffersonville, 
Ind.,  are  assembling  materials  for  him,  and  an 
old  Rensselaer  School  student,  George  Scarboro, 
writes  from  Owensboro,  Ky.,  to  recommend  for 
employment  a  young  geologist  of  some  experience 
by  the  name  of  Fielding  B.  Meek. 

Mr.  Meek  had  lately  returned  from  Owen's 
Survey  of  Iowa,  Minnesota  and  Wisconsin,  and 
his  acquaintance  with  the  old  rocks  of  the  upper 
Mississippi  and  his  skill  with  his  pencil  seemed  to 
be  just  the  qualifications  Hall  was  seeking  in  an 
assistant.  Mr.  Meek  was  not  physically  strong 
and  all  his  life  suffered  from  this  handicap,  but 
he  proved  to  be  a  man  of  exceptional  skill  in 

drink;  Dana  —  he  would  pick  out  the  corals,  and  Emmons 
would  not  join  if  the  Taconic  were  left  out." 

O853)  "Let  me  tell  you  subrosa  the  promises  of  scientific 

men  as  far  as  I  know  them  are  d d  bad  investments.  There 

are  more  fossils  due  me  than  would  shingle  a  good  sized  church 
and  I  would  not  put  up  a  box  for  the  Angel  Gabriel  without 
he  pawned  his  trumpet  for  pay." 

An  amusing  thrust  at  Dr.  Emmons   (1855)  : 

"  How  do  you  stand  with  the  Power  behind  the  Throne 
[Thurlow  Weed],?  Can't  you  manage  to  have  Fossils  In- 
jurious to  Vegetation?  Then  there  would  be  no  trouble  to  get 
an  appropriation. 

P.  S. —  Did  you  ever  have  the  ague?  I  have  not  been  so 
ashamed  since  I  rolled  a  watermelon  patch  —  an  old  soldier  of 
twenty  battles  and  sixty  years  to  shake ! ! " 


244  JAMES  HALL 

observation  and  delineation  and  his  love  of  the 
work  into  which  he  was  inducted  by  Professor 
Hall's  help  and  cooperation,  brought  to  him  high 
repute  in  his  profession.  Meek  came  on  to  Albany 
in  1852  and  was  soon  engaged,  under  signed  agree- 
ment to  remain,  on  the  drawings  of  fossils  which 
were  being  prepared  for  the  next  volume  of  the 
Palaeontology. 

When  Hall  was  returning  from  his  Lake 
Superior  field  work  in  1851,  he  stopped  at  Cleve- 
land to  call  on  his  young  friend  John  Newberry 
and  there  was  introduced  to  an  energetic  youth 
who  had  been  making  some  geological  studies  in 
the  neigborhood  and  who  wanted  to  enter  on  a 
career  in  natural  science  by  way  of  the  medical 
school,  as  many  of  the  men  of  that  time  chose  to 
do.  This  youth  was  Ferdinand  V.  Hayden,  in  later 
years  to  become  director  of  the  United  States 
Geological  Survey.  Hall  proposed  to  Hayden  that 
he  enter  the  Albany  Medical  College,  holding  out  to 
him  the  promise  of  geological  service  when  his 
course  was  over.  It  was  too  tempting  a  proposi- 
tion to  resist  and  the  young  man  came  on,  entered 
the  school  and  lived  at  Hall's  house,  meanwhile 
tramping  the  classic  grounds  of  the  Helderbergs 
and  Schoharie.  As  Mr.  Meek  was  then  in  Albany, 
it  was  at  Professor  Hall's  table  that  these  two  men 
came  into  a  first  contact  which  led  to  a  long  stand- 
ing scientific  partnership.  Just  about  this  time, 


EXPEDITION  TO  THE  BAD  LANDS    245 

1852,  Doctor  John  Evans,  who  had  gone  under  Gov- 
ernment auspices  on  an  exploring  expedition  up 
the  Missouri  river,  returned  with  a  store  of  fossil 
treasures  from  the  Mauvaises  Terres  of  the  White 
river  region,  then  in  Nebraska  Territory,  bringing 
unheard  of  vertebrate  remains  and  extraordinary 
invertebrates.  Professor  Hall  was  at  once  on  the 
qui  vive  over  this  new-found  storehouse,  almost 
the  first  hint  of  the  vast  buried  treasure  of  the 
great  West.  We  may  imagine  the  fever  of  interest 
these  discoveries  excited  around  the  family  table 
at  the  old  house  on  the  corner  of  Morton  street 
and  Delaware  avenue,  and  may  well  believe  that 
Hall  yielded  not  unwillingly  to  the  pleadings  of 
these  young  men  to  send  them  out  to  that  coun- 
try —  a  country  farther  away  from  Albany  then 
than  the  heart  of  Tibet  is  today;  a  journey  by 
uncertain  boats  up  the  Missouri  among  still 
untamed  tribes  of  Red  Skins.  But  the  booty  was 
irresistible  and  after  some  correspondence  with 
Dr.  Leidy 2  about  the  chance  of  being  reimbursed 

2  Philadelphia,  April  20,  1853 

"  I  am  glad  to  hear  you  are  going  to  send  Mr.  Hay  den  to  the 
Mauvaises  Terres  which,  with  its  remains,  I  view  as  a  darling 
child.  The  information  of  two  German  collectors  going  there  this 
summer  has  annoyed  me  exceedingly  and  I  am  delighted  to  hear 
jrou  possess  the  same  patriotic  feelings  as  myself.  *  *  *  I 
think  I  could  raise  a  few  hundred  dollars  at  the  Academy  toward 
sending  another  person  and  if  you  write  to  Prof.  Henry  I  think 
the  Smithsonian  might  contribute  some  aid." 

JOSEPH  LEIDY. 


246  JAMES  HALL 

for  any  vertebrate  fossils  obtained,  Hall  finally 
agreed  to  finance  Hayden,  though  he  did  not  feel 
that  he  could  release  Mr.  Meek  from  the  contract 
under  which  his  work  was  being  carried  on. 
Hayden's  boyish  enthusiasm  is  full  of  ambitions 
and  hopes.  With  the  opening  of  spring  he  starts 
for  Cleveland  where  Doctor  Newberry  helps  him 
with  his  preparations,  and  from  there  he  writes 
of  his  intention  to  stay  all  winter  in  the  Bad  Lands. 
Mr.  Meek,  left  behind  in  Albany,  teased  to  be  per- 
mitted to  go  along  and  though  Hall  realized  the 
condition  of  Meek's  health  and  needed  his  assist- 
ance in  his  New  York  work,  yet  he  gave  way,  and 
so  the  two  young  men  bring  up  in  St.  Louis,  com- 
mended to  the  consideration  of  Pierre  Choteau  & 
Co.,  the  Hudson  Bay  Fur  Company's  agents,  and 
to  Doctor  George  Engelmann.  Then  their  troubles 
began.  Doctor  Evans  was  also  in  St.  Louis,  out- 
fitting for  another  expedition  into  the  country  for 
a  Pacific  Railroad  Survey  into  the  Northwest, 
cooperating  with  Governor  Stevens  of  Missouri 
and  the  geologist,  Benjamin  F.  Shumard.  The 
young  men  found  they  were  not  welcome  com- 
panions to  this  party  on  the  only  boat  that  was 
going  up  the  river  that  season.  The  Government 
party  wanted  no  competition  and  Governor 
Stevens  was  quite  forbidding  in  his  attitude 
toward  the  new  comers.  Doctor  Engelmann,  high- 
minded  and  large-hearted,  espoused  their  cause 


GEORGE  ENGELMANN  247 

and  by  lucky  chance  Agassiz  happened  just  then 
to  be  in  St.  Louis  lecturing  to  the  Academy  of 
Science  and  by  his  great  influence  helped  to  satisfy 
the  Evans  party  that  there  were  fossils  enough 
for  all.  Hall  himself,  with  characteristic  pro- 
crastination when  payment  of  money  was  involved, 
nearly  wrecked  his  own  plans  by  failing  to  send 
on  a  remittance  for  expenses.  Doctor  Engel- 
mann3  writes : 

ST.  Louis,  May  23,  1853. 

"  Your  young  men  have  at  last  left  here,  but  you  will  have 
heard  that  from  them  several  days  before  this  reaches  you, 
and  our  friend  Agassiz  has  no  doubt  explained  to  you 
everything  which  remained  doubtful.  Mr.  Hayden,  as  you 
know,  felt  at  a  loss  to  account  for  your  long  silence.  Then 
came  Governor  Stevens  and  Doctor  Evans  and  his  expedi- 
tion and  their  antagonism  to  your  plans.  Your  friends 
applied  very  earnestly  for  advice  to  Agassiz  and  to  me. 
Both  of  us  thought  that  the  wisest  plan  would  be  to  give 
up  the  expedition  if  you  had  your  expenses  refunded  and  if 
both  young  men  were  suitably  and  honorably  provided  for 
in  the  Government  expedition.  After  long  diplomacy  con- 
ducted by  Agassiz  principally,  this  was  agreed  to  by  Doc- 
tor Evans  but  finally  rejected  by  Governor  Stevens.  We 

3  George  Engelmann  was  a  brilliant  member  of  the  circle  in  St. 
Louis  which,  at  this  date,  was  very  actively  engaged  in  the  pursuit 
of  science  and  had  organized  effectively  as  the  St.  Louis  Academy 
of  Science.  Doctor  Engelmann  was  a  botanist  of  great  distinction 
whose  work  on  the  Cacti  still  remains  unsurpassed  in  accuracy  and 
in  its  wondrous  beauty  of  illustration.  He  afterwards  became  inter- 
ested in  palaeobotany  and  is  to  be  reckoned  among  the  important 
contributors  to  American  geology. 


248  JAMES  HALL 

had  thought  that  under  these  conditions  you  would  release 
Mr.  Meek  from  his  contract  and  that  both  of  them  after  this 
season  of  apprenticeship  could  be  much  more  useful  to  you. 
But  the  Governor's  refusal  at  once  altered  the  state  of 
things.  The  question  was  to  go  or  not  to  go,  and  we  advised 
them  to  go  if  they  felt  the  courage  and  spirit  to  cope  with 
the  great  advantages  the  others  had,  but  whether  by  land 
or  water  remained  doubtful.  You  however  must  have  been 
advised  of  the  reasons  which  induced  them  to  go  by  water." 

It  goes  on  to  say  that  he  had  endorsed  them  to 
the  firm  of  Lovejoy  &  Sire  to  the  amount  of  $1200, 
simply  because  Hall  neglected  to  send  on  any 
money. 

Engelmann  concludes  his  letter  with  an  expres- 
sion of  reprobation  for  the  dissensions  into  which 
the  rival  ambitious  of  these  explorers  projected 
them  :4 

"  I  was  deeply  pained  to  witness  the  spirit  of  rapacity, 
envy  and  sickly  emulation  evinced  by  most  of  the  persons 
interested  and  of  this  Mr.  Hayden  is  not  free  himself.  He 
appeared  perfectly  astounded  when  I  told  him  that  hundreds 
of  years  hence  more  valuable  discoveries  would  be  made 
in  the  Mauvaises  Terres  than  now  by  him,  Meek,  Shumard 
and  all  the  others  together,  or  that  the  extent  of  the  country 


*  It  is  cited  here  a's  appropriate  to  the  narrative  and  in  harmony 
with  many  similar  demonstrations  throughout  it;  from  out  of  which 
the  conclusion  stands  uppermost  that  the  search  for  a  knowledge 
of  scientific  facts,  the  mere  effort,  however  zealous,  to  enlarge 
human  knowledge  has  little  genuine  humanizing  worth  either  in 
itself  or  in  its  applications.  Scientific  endeavor  must  be  planted 
in  a  soil  mellowed  by  fraternity  and  watered  with  righteousness. 


THE  MA  UVAISES  TERRES          249 

was  so  vast  that  they  might  all  travel  and  collect  there  with- 
out once  meeting.  He  wanted  to  exclude,  if  possible,  those 
German  collectors  of  whom  I  had  spoken.  There  is  a  want 
of  the  true  spirit  of  science,  the  pure  love  for  science  in  all 
this.  There  is  on  the  contrary  a  selfishness  and  rapacity 
manifested  in  this  which  grieve  me  much.  Messrs.  Meek 
and  Hayden  however,  have  energy  and  enthusiasm  and  will, 
I  hope,  overcome  many  difficulties.  What  the  latter  lacks 
in  discretion  he  makes  good  by  his  candor.  Those  Germans 
are  not  going  but  have  gone  to  the  interior  of  Missouri  and 
from  there  to  Arkansas  and  Texas,  principally  to  collect 
fishes  for  Agassiz." 

But  the  young  men  were  off  and  they  harvested 
an  experience  which  laid  the  foundation  of  their 
useful  careers.  I  would  like  to  reprint  here  the 
letters  written  by  Meek  to  his  chief,  for  his  per- 
ceptions were  wide  awake  all  along  these  pioneer 
paths,  but  an  extract  from  a  single  one  may  serve 
to  give  a  hint  of  their  contents. 

FORT  PIERRE,  June  19,  1853. 
MY  DEAR  SIR  : 

The  MacKinac  boats  have  not  yet  started  but  will  do  so 
in  a  few  days.  We  arrived  here  this  morning  at  7  oclk. 
and  our  things  are  now  on  shore,  but  owing  to  the  fact  that 
all  the  teams  and  men  are  engaged  in  hauling  up  the  goods 
of  the  Company,  we  will  probably  not  be  able  to  open  our 
boxes  until  tomorrow.  We  were  within  two  miles  of  this 
place  last  night  before  dark,  but  we  were  compelled  to  tie 
up  by  a  tornado  which  came  very  near  sinking  the  boat. 
The  Indians,  or  at  least  some  bands  of  them,  are  not  very 


250  JAMES  HALL 

well  disposed  towards  the  whites  at  this  time.  Some  of 
them  do  not  come  in  to  meet  the  Agent,  and  refuse  to  accept 
their  annuities.  They  have  sent  word  to  the  Company  that 
they  will  not  allow  the  boat  to  go  higher  up  than  Ft.  Clark, 
and  that  they  will  not  allow  Gov.  Stevens's  party  to  pass 
through  this  country.  Our  men,  horses,  carts  &c.  will  all  be 
ready  by  tomorrow  or  the  day  after.  Our  things  will  be 
taken  to  the  fort  this  morning,  when  we  will  go  immediately 
to  work  to  separating  what  we  are  going  to  take  to  the 
Bad  Lands  from  what  we  expect  to  use  on  our  way  down. 
Two  of  our  men  are  good  guides  and  interpreters.  One  of 
them  is  a  half-breed  who  was  raised  amongst  the  Indians, 
and  is  said  to  be  better  acquainted  with  their  habits  and 
customs  than  any  other  person  in  the  country.  He  has 
hunted  all  over  the  Bad  Lands.  He  will  take  two  of  his 
own  horses  and  his  Squaw  along,  and  Culbertson  says  if  we 
have  any  fighting  to  do,  he  will  be  the  last  man  to  leave  us. 

Drs.  Evans  and  Shumard  will  start  about  the  same  time 
we  do,  and  have  expressed  a  desire  to  have  us  in  camp  near 
them  during  their  stay  at  the  Bad  Lands.  They  say  Deer, 
Buffalo,  Antelope,  Elk  and  Mountain  Sheep  are  very 
abundant  there,  and  that  our  guide  can  kill  more  meat  than 
our  party  can  use,  though  I  do  not  think  it  prudent  to  rely 
upon  this  means  of  supply. 

I  hope  you  will  excuse  this  incoherent  letter,  for  I  am 
in  a  great  hurry  and  have  to  write  on  a  table  in  the  cabin 
with  about  two  hundred  Ind,ian  chiefs  and  braves  seated  in 
rows  on  each  side  of  me.  They  have  come  on  board  by  invi- 
tation from  the  Captain  to  a  feast.  They  are  elegantly 
dressed  and  their  bearing  is  noble  and  dignified.  One  old 
fellow  has  just  presented  a  fine  Buffalo  robe  to  Capt.  Sarpy. 
He  first  spread  it  down  on  the  floor  and  made  the  Capt. 
sit  down  upon  it,  when  he  commenced  a  long  speech  which 
he  wound  up  by  presenting  the  robe,  and  telling  the  Capt. 


RELATIONS  WITH  MEEK  251 

that  he  looked  upon  him  as  one  a  little  inferior  to  the  Great 
Father.  They  have  given  us  all  an  invitation  to  a  Dog  feast 
tonight.  I  would  like  to  go,  but  will  not  have  time.  The 
Capt,  Dr.  Evans  and  Maj.  Vaughan  the  Agt.  will  go  and 
they  say  they  are  going  to  eat  some  of  the  Dog.  I  do  not 
envy  them  their  supper. 

In  great  haste  Yours  &c 

Prof.  James  Hall  F.  B.  MEEK 

Albany,  N.  Y. 

The  young  men  were  back  in  the  autumn,  bring- 
ing with  them  a  harvest  which  served  Dr.  Leidy 
for  descriptions  of  the  vertebrates,  while  Hall  and 
Meek  together  gave  accounts  of  the  invertebrates 
and  Hall  had  for  his  material  share  a  large  col- 
lection of  unusual  fossils  with  which  to  reimburse 
his  pocketbook.  But  more  than  that;  in  summing 
up  the  now  colossal  results  which  the  Far  West 
has  contributed  to  the  geological  history  of  verte- 
brate life,  Hall's  initiative  in  this  field  must  not 
be  lost  sight  of. 

Professor  Hall's  relations  with  his  first  assist- 
ant, Mr.  Meek,  have  been  so  often  covertly 
referred  to  in  the  literature  of  the  science,  that 
some  further  word  may  properly  go  on  record  here 
regarding  them.  Mr.  Meek  joined  Hall  in  June, 
1852.  He  was  with  him  for  a  year  before  he  had 
become  sufficiently  expert  to  make  drawings  of  the 
quality  required  for  the  Palaeontology  and  just 
before  he  started  for  the  West  he  felt  so  much  the 


252  JAMES  HALL 

desirability  of  security  in  his  relation  to  his  chief 
that  he  entered  into  a  written  agreement  to  remain 
four  years.  Hall  declares  that  he  advised  against 
such  a  long  term  agreement  but  Meek  would  have 
it  so.  Immediately  thereupon  came  the  desire  to 
accompany  Hayden  and  even  before  his  return 
to  Albany,  G.  C.  Swallow,  who  was  organizing  a 
survey  of  Missouri,  made  overtures  to  him  to  urge 
a  release  from  his  engagement.  Mr.  Meek  begged 
Hall  to  release  him,  but  Meek  had  now  become 
acquainted  with  Hall's  procedures  and  collections 
and  to  release  him  would  have  been  grossly  unfair 
to  Hall  himself.  Mr.  Hall  suggested  to  Swallow 
that  he  take  one-half  of  Meek's  time,  failing  which 
he  would  volunteer  to  pay  Mr.  Meek  as  large  a 
sum  as  Swallow  offered,  but  at  any  rate  the  con- 
dition of  the  Palaeontology  would  not  permit  his 
full  release.  Mr.  Meek  did  go  to  Missouri  on  this 
part  time  arrangement,  but  it  all  ended  in  turmoil. 
I  have  put  down  so  much,  because  in  one  form  or 
another  Hall's  troubles  with  his  assistants  became 
historic.  At  this  time  Hall  was  the  personification 
of  superabounding  physical  vigor  capped  by  a  sur- 
passing ambition  and  a  burning  irascibility.  He 
actually  terrorized  those  who  came  into  conflict 
with  him  personally  or  entered  as  competitors  upon 
his  field.  It  is  a  fact  that  he  administered  al  fresco 
pummelings  to  his  men  servants  and  he  did  not 
hesitate  to  make  himself  impressive  on  occasion  by 


RUPTURE  WITH  MEEK  253 

snatching  a  shotgun  off  the  rack  over  his  table. 
Mr.  Meek  was  the  witness  of  these  displays  and 
he  was  frightened,  though  in  many  ways  his 
chief  was  considerate  of  him  and  gave  him  a 
large  opportunity  for  increasing  his  knowledge, 
communicated  to  the  Albany  Institute  Meek's 
important  first  determination  of  the  Permian  sys- 
tem in  America  and  cooperated  with  him  in  the 
account  of  the  Cretaceous  fauna  of  Nebraska;  yet 
Meek,  once  away  safely  in  Missouri,  refused  to 
come  back  to  the  terrors  of  personal  relations  with 
this  despot  in  science.  That  Meek  was  thor- 
oughly scared  is  unquestionable;  and  his  fear 
became  greater  when  Hall,  scandalized  and  out- 
raged by  the  literal  violation  of  the  agreement 
between  them,  dipped  his  pen  in  vitriol  and 
denounced,  to  such  men  as  Joseph  Henry,  his 
assistant  in  most  unmeasured  terms.  It  was  an 
angry  and  distressing  episode  and  it  brought  upon 
Hall  only  reproaches  and  warnings  from  his 
advisors  and  equals;  but  it  was  his  way,  and  to 
him  the  only  way  when  he  believed  an  injustice 
was  done  him.  For  years  he  nursed  his  wrath 
and  the  expostulations  of  those  who  dared  to 
expostulate  taught  him  nothing.  The  flame  died 
down  in  time,  but  it  was  sure  to  flare  again  when 
the  spark  was  struck.  Such  acerbity  was  all  a 
part  of  the  man  in  these  burning  years  and  it  must 
be  estimated  in  the  sum  of  his  doings. 


254  JAMES  HALL 

It  would  seem  that  Hall  had  not  yet  given  up 
all  hope  for  the  scientific  courses  in  the  Albany 
University  and  both  Edward  Hitchcock  and 
Joseph  Leidy  had  taken  part  in  them  in  1853. 
Agassiz,  however,  had  abandoned  connection  with 
them  and  was  now  closely  busied  with  Cambridge 
affairs.  This  year  he  was  troubled  over  the 
lawyer's  fees  against  him  in  the  Foster  suit  because 
(Feb.  19,  1853): 

"  I  have  been  obliged  to  give  up  my  lectures  at  the  South, 
at  least  for  this  year,  which  leaves  me  nothing  but  $1500." 

Later  he  writes  (July  9) : 

"Alex,  my  son,  has  decided  upon  studying  as  his  pro- 
fession, Geology  in  connection  with  Engineering,  and  after 
giving  him  a  little  instruction  I  now  send  him  out  on  his  first 
excursion.  If  you  are  not  too  busy,  I  would  thank  you  to 
give  him  a  little  advice  how  to  proceed.  I  wanted  him  to 
take  a  look  at  your  collection  and  go  afterwards  to  Trenton. 
It  is  enough  if  he  makes  a  small  beginning.  *  *  *  I 
advised  Alex  to  go  right  to  your  house.  If  he  comes  at  an 
inconvenient  time  send  him  off." 

(July  12)  "  It  is  sad  that  even  after  seven  months  I  am 
hardly  able  to  deliver  my  lectures  and  can  not  apply  myself 
to  any  research.  Alex  has  returned  after  a  short  trip  to 
Trenton  and  thence  across  the  State  to  the  Susquehanna 
Valley.  I  will  send  him  to  you  during  another  vacation  when 
you  are  at  home. 

Have  you  heard  from  Mr.  Lawrence?  He  said  the  other 
day  that  he  entertained  the  hope  of  seeing  you  here  some 
time  connected  with  the  Scientific  School." 


"AMERICAN  GEOLOGICAL  SOCIETY"    255 

In  November,  Agassiz  writes  again  at  a  time 
when  it  seemed  likely  that  the  Foster  suit  against 
Hall  might  be  pressed,  to  assure  his  friend  of  his 
readiness  to  help  him  through.  He  adds : 

"  The  Museum  we  are  going  to  get  here  exists  so  far  as 
I  know,  only  in  the  newspapers  thus  far,  though  I  believe 
before  long  Mr.  Lawrence  will  make  another  donation.  A 
subscription  to  secure  my  collections  for  the  University  is 
going  around  successfully  thus  far ;  the  faculty  is  said  to  be 
prepared  to  make  up  the  deficiency  of  the  subscription  if  the 
subscription  should  not  cover  the  sum  of  $10,000  I  named 
as  its  price.  This  will  certainly  result  and  next  I  shall  urge 
the  acquisition  [of  yours]  and  your  connection  with  our 
school;  but  let  us  keep  that  to  ourselves." 

It  was  just  about  this  time  that  Agassiz  was 
greatly  disturbed  over  the  rumor  of  a  "  plan  cir- 
culating for  an  'American  Geological  Society ' 
headed  by  Rogers,  with  your  name  on  it.  *  *  * 
I  can  see  nothing  but  an  intrigue  of  R.  with  the 
design  of  undermining  the  American  Association." 
Hall  was  as  much  surprised  as  his  friend  over  this 
project  but  says  he  believes  it  was  started  by  J.  W. 
Foster  at  the  Cleveland  meeting,  where  it  was  felt 
that  the  western  geologists  had  not  received  proper 
attention. 

An  episode  of  this  time  too  interesting  to  pass 
over,  has  to  do  with  a  fleeting  sensation  in  the 
development  of  the  glacial  theory  —  the  Berkshire 


256  JAMES  HALL 

Boulder  Trains.  An  intelligent  farmer  and  editor 
of  Pittsfield,  Mass.,  Stephen  Reid,  wrote  a  news- 
paper account,  in  1845,  of  some  trains  of  great 
boulders  which  stretched  themselves  in  parallel 
lines  from  the  Canaan  mountains  in  eastern  New 
York  over  the  Stockbridge  and  Lenox  hills  of 
Berkshire  County.  These  press  articles  attracted 
the  attention  of  Dr.  Edward  Hitchcock,  who  sur- 
veyed the  field  and  gave  an  account  of  the  singular 
occurrence  in  Silliman's  Journal  for  1845,  though 
he  ventured  on  no  satisfactory  explanation  of 
them.  In  1847,  Hall,  Desor  and  Agassiz  went  over 
the  ground  under  the  guidance  of  Mr.  Reid,  though 
but  hastily  and  without  a  united  conclusion ;  Desor 
declaring  quite  positively  that  the  boulder  trains 
were  median  moraines ;  Agassiz  hesitating  at  such 
an  inference  because  he  knew  that  median 
moraines  start  as  lateral  moraines  and  he  could 
not  find  any  sides  to  this  glacier;  while  Hall,  hav- 
ing no  experience  with  Alpine  glaciers,  kept  silent 
though  it  is  evident  he  was  not  impressed  by  the 
comparison.  In  the  same  year  William  B.  and 
Henry  D.  Rogers  examined  the  phenomenon  and 
gave  a  most  extraordinary  explanation  before  the 
Boston  Society  of  Natural  History,  conceiving 
that  these  continuous  rows  of  boulders  were 
landed  by  a  discharge  of  ice-impounded  waters 
from  the  Arctic  and  with  the  help  of  various 


BOULDER  TRAINS  257 

vortexes  and  cross  currents  were  strung  out  into 
their  successive  lines.5 

In  1852,  Sir  Charles  Lyell  was  in  America  again 
on  his  third  visit.  He  had  come  as  British  Com- 
missioner to  the  World's  Fair  Exhibition  at  the 
Crystal  Palace  in  New  York,  an  errand  over  which 
he  had  little  enthusiasm.  Tiring  of  it  he  begged 
Hall  to  make  a  report  for  him  on  the  department 
with  which  he  was  specially  charged.  Meanwhile 
he  went  off  on  geological  excursions  and  he  spe- 
cially wanted  to  see  the  place  that  could  give  birth 
to  such  extraordinary  ideas  as  the  Rogerses  had 
promulgated.  He  arranged  first  with  Hitchcock 
and  C.  B.  Adams,  but  finally  with  Hall,  to  visit 
Berkshire,  and  so  together  and  once  more  under 
the  guidance  of  Stephen  Reid,  the  discoverer, 
Lyell  and  Hall  in  September  make  a  survey  of  the 
region  and  by  October,  Lyell  is  lecturing  in  Boston 
on  the  subject,  in  his  quick  and  daring  way,  hav- 
ing at  once  found  a  conclusion  which  suited  him, 
and  he  writes  to  Hall  that  month  telling  how 
delighted  Agassiz  is  at  their  "  clearing  up  the 
Canaan  mystery,"  inviting  Hall  to  come  over  to 
Boston  and  hear  him.  In  Lyell's  view,  the  boulders 
were  successively  stranded  by  floating  coast  ice 

5  For  a  keen  criticism  of  the  Rogers  brothers'  interpretation,  the 
reader  is  referred  to  Dr.  George  P.  Merrill's  analysis  of  it.     Op. 
cit.  p.  402. 
17 


258  JAMES  HALL 

and  so  interesting  does  the  occurrence  seem  to 
him  that  he  presented  it  formally  before  the  Royal 
Institution  of  London  in  1855,  and  in  detail  with 
illustrations  in  his  "Antiquity  of  Man."  Not  till 
1878  were  these  boulder  trains  discussed  in  the 
light  of  more  modern  interpretations,  by  E.  R.  Ben- 
ton,  in  the  Bulletin  of  the  Museum  of  Comparative 
Zoology,  where  they  were  shown  to  be  land-ice 
terminal  moraines.  Professor  Benjamin  K.  Emer- 
son, of  Massachusetts,  intimates  to  me  that  the 
phenomena  have  not  since  been  differently 
interpreted. 

In  this  year  of  1853,  an  interesting  exchange  of 
letters  occurred  between  Hall  and  Professor 
Joseph  Henry,  to  whom  Hall  was  wont  to  appeal 
for  advice  as  from  an  older  man  whose  wisdom 
and  equanimity  he  recognized.  Henry  had  taken 
charge  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution  in  1846  and 
soon  after  he  became  involved  in  embarrassing 
litigation  with  S.  F.  B.  Morse  over  the  application 
of  the  principles  of  the  telegraph.  Henry,  as  we 
have  already  said,  had  made  his  initial  demonstra- 
tion of  long  distance  transmission  and  induction 
when  a  teacher  of  mathematics  in  the  Albany  Acad- 
emy, 1827-1832,  and  herein  laid  the  foundation  of 
the  great  triumphs  which  have  been  wrought  out 
from  these  beginnings  in  electrical  power,  light  and 
sound  transmission. 


JOSEPH  HENRY'S  EXPERIMENTS    259 

Henry  writes,  September  14,  1853: 

"  You  informed  me  in  a  conversation  some  time  since, 
that  you  recollected  having  visited  me  at  Albany  in  1831 
or  1832  and  that  I  showed  you  how  a  noise  could  be  made 
at  a  distance  by  causing  the  needle  of  a  galvanometer  to 
strike  against  a  bell.  I  am  not  certain  that  this  was  what 
you  said,  but  I  know  that  this  was  one  of  my  contrivances 
at  the  time.  May  I  ask  that  you  will  give  me  this  state- 
ment in  writing?  I  do  not  know  that  I  shall  ever  have 
cause  to  make  any  use  of  it,  but  I  wish  to  file  away  with  a 
copy  of  my  testimony  any  facts  which  may  tend  to  corrobo- 
rate it." 

To  which  Hall  replies: 

"  I  well  recollect  calling  on  you  at  the  Albany  Academy 
in  1831  or  '32  with  a  letter  of  introduction  from  Professor 
Eaton  of  Troy. 

Your  experiments  in  "  electro-magnetism  "  were  at  that 
time  making  much  talk  in  the  world.  Among  many  things 
which  you  showed  me  were  contrivances  to  produce 
sound  and  motion  at  a  distance  from  the  battery  by 
magnetic  currents  along  wires.  One  arrangement  was  a 
battery  from  which  extended  wires  along  the  wall  of  the 
room  for  a  long  distance  and  at  the  extremity  of  these,  at  a 
window  casing,  was  fixed  a  bell  which  was  made  to  sound  by 
the  action  of  the  wires  in  the  transmission  of  the  galvanic 
current.  You  remarked  that  voices  might  be  extended  for 
many  miles  and  the  same  results  produced,  or  that  the  bell 
could  be  made  to  sound  in  the  same  manner  at  a  distance  of 
many  miles.  I  have  a  recollection  of  farther  observations  of 
yours  and  of  my  own  inquiries  in  relation  to  the  matter, 
the  result  of  which  was  that  communications  by  signs  or 


260  JAMES  HALL 

sounds  could  in  this  manner  be  made  at  any  required  dis- 
tance where  a  wire  could  be  extended. 

I  have  had  occasion  several  times  to  speak  of  this  fact 
when  present  at  discussions  relating  to  the  invention  of  the 
present  telegraphing  system. 

The  subject  was  one  with  which  at  the  time  I  was  little 
familiar  and  I  am  sensible  that  there  are  many  details  which 
have  escaped  my  memory.  I  recollect  well  my  impressions 
in  relation  to  this  visit  and  when  the  present  system  of  tele- 
graphing was  announced  I  saw  that  it  was  an  application  of 
the  same  principle  which  you  had  adopted  in  your  process, 
the  modes  of  illustrating  which  might  be  very  various." 

Hall  was  now  constantly  approached  by  offers 
of  professional  positions  and  requests  for  expert 
service.  It  is  perfectly  evident  that  in  these  years 
of  the  1850s,  when  official  surveys  were  starting 
up  here  and  there  over  the  Palaeozoic  states,  that 
if  Hall  was  not  at  once  invited  to  take  charge,  he 
felt  himself  affronted  and  proposed  himself  in  per- 
fect self-confidence.  He  had  come  to  regard  him- 
self the  logical  parent  of  every  such  survey  for  he 
felt,  with  some  good  reason,  that  they  were  coming 
into  being  as  a  consequence  of  the  work  in  New 
York.  He  was  free  to  go  afield  into  other  official 
work,  and  he  was  eager  to  venture  into  private 
undertakings  that  would  bring  enough  return  to 
at  least  enable  him  to  pay  his  assistants  and  con- 
tinue the  collections  for  his  Palaeontology.  So  he 
allowed  himself  to  be  willingly  led  into  an  endless 
variety  of  land  and  mining  ventures ;  he  continued 


VARIOUS  PROJECTS  261 

his  buying  and  selling  of  Ohio  coal  lands;  he  was 
interested  in  North  Carolina  mining  projects;  was 
working  with  George  H.  Cook  on  the  Kanawha 
brines,  was  consulted  upon  and  evidently  became 
identified  with  an  elaborate  project  in  the  Virginia 
uplands  which  was  to  be  a  vineyard  and  coal  min- 
ing development,  in  which  he,  Whitney  and  some 
of  the  other  Cambridge  men,  were  to  take  up  10,000 
acres  of  coal  lands,  cut  the  timber,  set  out  vine- 
yards, build  houses  and  roads,  put  in  a  railroad  and 
bring  over  from  the  Rhine  a  colony  of  wine- 
makers.  "  In  four  or  five  years,"  says  the  Mul- 
berry Sellers  of  this  enterprise,  "  we  shall  have 
'  sparkling  Catawba '  to  sell  at  a  dollar  a  bottle." 
He  is  frequently  in  league  with  Benjamin  Silliman, 
Jr.'s  many  mining  projects  and  we  find  him,  in  the 
capacity  of  agent,  writing  out  to  England  seeking 
capital  for  an  extensive  project  in  Kentucky  coal 
and  iron.  Mr.  Hall's  usual  extreme  caution  in 
financial  matters,  in  which  his  saving  virtue  was 
habitual  procrastination,  kept  him  from  grave  loss 
and  doubtless  brought  a  fair  measure  of  profit. 

Aside  from  such  business  approaches  and  ven- 
tures he  was  continually  beset  by  requests  and 
appeals  for  endorsements  for  all  sorts  of  applicants 
to  all  sorts  of  positions.  He  seems  to  have  seldom 
refused  these  appeals  but  he  gradually  learned  to  be 
cautious  with  the  adjectives  he  employed.  His 
earliest  letters  of  this  sort  were  on  behalf  of 


262  JAMES  HALL 

geniuses  and  cherubim  of  the  most  extraordinary 
virtues  and  he  would  paint  a  man  looking  for  a  job 
on  the  Erie  Canal  in  hues  that  would  embellish  a 
university  president.  As  he  became  better  ac- 
quainted with  the  human  equation,  he  acquired  a 
meticulous  care  in  expression  lest  some  of  his 
words  should  rebound  upon  him.  A  teacher  in  the 
Albany  Normal  School,  with  the  self-confidence 
natural  to  a  man  of  limited  training,  wanted  to  be 
professor  of  geology  in  Columbia  College.  He  was 
ridiculously  incompetent  for  such  a  place  but  Hall 
would  not  refuse  him  the  requested  letter.  The 
draft  of  that  letter  lies  here;  it  is  written  on  one 
side  of  a  foolscap  sheet,  interlined,  erased,  cut  and 
pasted,  and  on  the  other  side  is  another  form  in 
different  phrasing,  but  full  of  excisions  and  elisions. 
Both  are  graceful  and  irreproachable  statements 
conveying  under  a  few  select  phrases  the  intelli- 
gence that  the  man  in  question  was  a  gentleman.. 
And  this  gentleman  was  seeking  the  same  position 
which  was  then  being  earnestly  urged  successively 
upon  Hall  himself  and  upon  Professor  Dana. 

By  1854  the  cherished  hope  of  Agassiz  and 
Horsford  that  Mr.  Lawrence  would  make  it  possi- 
ble for  Hall  and  his  collection  to  remove  to  Cam- 
bridge, collapsed.  Horsford  writes  (June  28) : 

"  It  is  well  to  put  you  at  ease  about  the  scientific  school. 
Mr.  L  [awrence]  has  told  Mr.  Agassiz  that  at  the  expiration 
of  the  five  years  during  which  he  proposed  to  give  $1500 
[a  year]  he  was  at  liberty  to  enter  into  any  arrangements  he 


TAYLER  LEWIS  263 

might  think  proper  and  that  he  should  not  continue  his 
salary  any  longer.  The  President  told  me  that  it  was  under- 
stood in  the  street  that  all  Mr.  Lawrence  should  give  here- 
after would  be  for  buildings.  They  have  Agassiz's  collec- 
tion. He  has  commenced  the  erection  of  a  house  and  here 
he  finds  himself  after  seven  years.  So  my  dear  friend, 
there  is  I  think  a  most  emphatic  end  of  all  the  plans  that 
were  once  cherished  by  us." 

And  Agassiz  writes  (July  6) : 

"  I  have  had  a  miserable  year.  Another  like  this  will  do 
me  up.  I  go  tomorrow  to  Nahant  to  see  what  I  can  do  by 
doing  nothing.  All  our  hopes  are  indefinitely  postponed. 
We  no  doubt  shall  have  some  splendid  building  from  Mr. 
Lawrence  but  I  see  no  indication  that  anything  is  going  to 
be  spent  in  truly  scientific  way." 

Some  letters  of  1856  recall  an  interesting  inci- 
dent which  in  its  day  attracted  widespread 
attention. 

There  was  at  Union  College  in  Schenectady,  a 
very  learned  scholar  and  teacher,  Professor  Tayler 
Lewis,  deeply  versed  in  the  lore  and  the  writ  of 
the  Orient,  a  student  of  Hebrew,  Chaldee  and 
Arabic,  and  though  not  a  clergyman,  a  very  com- 
prehensive and  erudite  ecclesiastic.  He  was  a  man 
of  much  distinction  in  scholarly  circles  and  his 
interests  naturally  predisposed  him  to  a  diversion 
popular  at  that  time  —  the  attempted  interpreta- 
tion of  the  geological  record  in  the  light  of  the 
Mosaic  chronology.  So  he  wrote  a  book  entitled: 


264  JAMES  HALL 

"  Six  Days  of  Creation,  or  the  Scriptural  Cos- 
mology " ;  and  it  was  honestly  intended  rather  to 
magnify  the  interpretations  of-  geological  science 
than  to  minimize  science  in  the  light  of  the 
scriptural  record.  The  book  elicited  a  most 
extraordinary  attack  from  Professor  James  D. 
Dana  which  was  printed  in  the  Bibliotheca  Sacra. 
This  onset  against  Professor  Lewis  seems  to  the 
writer  the  most  polished  and  poignant  argumenta- 
tion in  which  Professor  Dana  ever  engaged  him- 
self. It  was  of  high  literary  excellence  and  handled 
with  such  surgical  delicacy  and  exactitude  that, 
to  the  amazement  of  Lewis  and  his  large  audi- 
ence of  listening  clergy,  he  found  himself  pictured 
as  the  very  author  of  an  argument  which  verged 
on  infidelity,  even  if  it  did  not  bring  him  close  to 
the  dismal  abyss  of  atheism.  Horror-struck  and 
astounded,  Professor  Lewis  attempted  a  reply  in 
the  pages  of  the  Bibliotheca  Sacra  but  he  found 
them  well  nigh  closed  to  him,  while  Dana  returned 
to  the  attack  in  order  to  make  a  finished  and  thor- 
ough operation.  Finding  all  outlet  for  a  rejoinder 
and  a  justification  shut,  Professor  Lewis  was 
forced  to  resort  to  private  publication  and  it  is 
while  he  was  in  the  throes  and  anguish  of  this 
justification,  "  The  Bible  and  Science,  or  the 
World  Problem,"  he  writes  profuse  letters  on  his 
own  behalf  to  Professor  Hall.  The  appeal  to  Hall, 
strong  and  intimate  as  it  is,  was  all  the  more 


GEOLOGY  AND  GENESIS  265 

extraordinary  because  Lewis,  known  for  his  ortho- 
doxy, is  calling  upon  Hall,  known  to  be  a  member 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  church,  for  his  justifica- 
tion. In  a  letter  of  eight  foolscap  pages  Professor 
Lewis  divides  geologists  into  two  classes,  into  one 
of  which,  the  French  and  German  free  thinkers 
with  other  radicals,  he  puts  Dana;  and  the  sec- 
ond class,  for  whom  he  hopes  "to  be  able  to  mani- 
fest in  a  satisfactory  manner  his  sincere  and 
hearty  esteem,"  namely,  the  "  scientific  men  who 
mingle  reverence  with  their  science,  men  of  some 
modesty,  whose  consciousness  of  very  little  knowl- 
edge (greatest  even  when  least  in  its  own  esteem) 
leads  them  to  an  adoration  of  the  revealed,  or  at 
least  an  awe  of  the  unknown " ;  to  this  class, 
he  very  directly  intimates,  Hall  belongs.  A  few 
months  later,  as  the  publication  of  his  book  is 
delayed,  he  writes  nervously  as  he  feels  that  the 
attack  upon  him  "  has  had  influence  with  many 
timid  clergymen,"  to  know  what  sort  of  a  geologist 
Hall  considers  Dana  to  be.  "  Suggestions  from 
you  I  would  receive  with  perfect  confidence  both 
in  their  weight  and  their  correctness.  I  could  give 
them  in  my  book  in  any  way  you  choose,  either  in 
your  own  name  or  with  a  distinct  statement  that 
they  are  derived  from  high  scientific  authority." 
It  does  not,  however,  appear  that  Professor  Hall 
allowed  himself  to  be  drawn  into  this  theologico- 
geological  controversy,  and  though  it  presented  the 


266  JAMES  HALL 

extraordinary  phenomenon  of  geological  odium 
poured  out  upon  theology,  it  soon  evaporated,  the 
noise  of  the  battle  soon  died  away  and  its  echoes 
are  today  only  the  strange  rumblings  of  a  vanishing 
thunder  cloud. 

Troubles  now  loomed  menacingly  at  Albany.  A 
bosom  full  of  live  coals,  of  enthusiasm  which  must 
have  an  outlet,  confronted  only  a  dampening  offi- 
cial indifference  and  this  was  creating  not  only 
sympathy  but  a  wholesome  resentment  among 
Hall's  admirers  in  the  State.  Colonel  Jewett  and 
Ledyard  Lincklaen  are  deeply  concerned  and  the 
Hon.  E.  W.  Leavenworth,  recently  come  to  Albany 
as  Secretary  of  State,  discovers  the  situation 
regarding  Hall's  work  and  publicly  deplores  it. 
These  two  letters,  one  from  Lincklaen  to  Leaven- 
worth  and  Mr.  Leavenworth's  reply,  paint  the 
picture ; 

Ledyard  Lincklaen  to 
Hon.  E.  W.  Leavenworth       CAZENOVIA  3ist  March,  1855. 

I  perceive  by  a  report  in  the  Atlas,  that  you  are  inter- 
esting yourself  in  behalf  of  the  remaining  part  of  the  "  State 
Natural  History  ",  the  Palaeontology  in  the  hands  of  Prof. 
Hall.  Though  I  can  claim  no  greater  acquaintance  with  the 
subject  than  that,  of  an  amateur,  I  have  still  been  for  many 
years  well  acquainted  with  Mr.  Hall  and  much  interested 
in  his  progress  and  success ;  I  have  known  of  the  many 
difficulties  and  embarrassments  with  which  he  has  had  to 
contend ;  have  admired  his  energy  and  scientific  zeal ;  and 
wish  to  express  the  pleasure  I  feel  at  the  prospect  of  a 


LEDYARD  LINCKLAEN  267 

better  public  appreciation  of  him  and  his  labors.  This 
branch  of  the  great  State  work  was  the  main  object  of 
the  whole  enterprise;  a  branch  of  research  beyond  the 
means  of  private  individuals;  one  of  great  economical 
importance;  and  one  which  by  bringing  to  light  scientific 
facts  deeply  interesting  by  themselves  and  doubly  valuable 
in  connection  with  the  discoveries  of  explorers  in  other 
regions  and  continents,  contributes  efficiently  to  the  cosmo- 
politan cause  of  science.  It  was  and  is  therefore,  a  worthy 
object  of  State  patronage. 

It  has  been,  however,  half  smothered  by  being  gradually 
associated  with  a  crowd  of  surveys  and  publications  on 
other  departments  of  science,  departments  previously  well 
studied  or  lying  within  the  means  of  private  students,  mam- 
malogy, ornithology,  ichthyology,  conchology,  botany,  agri- 
culture, pomology,  entomology  etc ;  involving  the  State  in 
immensely  increased  expense  for  publications  hardly  any 
of  which  had  much  fair  claim  on  public  aid,  and  some  of 
which  may  be  suspected  of  being  mere  jobs. 

The  blame  of  all  this  extravagance,  the  odious  imputa- 
tions so  often  attaching  to  persons  connected  with  State 
printing  and  publishing,  fell  unjustly  on  the  really  deserving 
geological  department  of  the  work,  especially  on  Mr.  Hall's 
portion  of  it  which  was  necessarily  the  longest  in  being 
completed;  and  also  on  him,  who  from  personal  acquaint- 
ance I  believe  to  have  been  entirely  free  from  any  motives 
lower  than  an  honorable  ambition,  and  devoted  most  sin- 
cerely and  enthusiastically  to  his  science. 

The  published  statements  of  Prof.  Agassiz  are  enough  to 
show  how  disinterested  has  been  his  course,  and  how  poor 
his  reward  at  home  —  "  not  without  honor,  save  in  his  own 
country ".  While  he  has  become  a  standard  authority 
abroad,  his  work  quoted  in  every  European  publication  on 
similar  subjects,  and  deemed  essential  in  every  foreign 


268  JAMES  HALL 

library,  he  has  been  immediately  at  home,  to  say  the  least, 
comparatively  unknown  and  neglected.  He  has  borne  every- 
thing in  silence,  and  worked  on  with  limited  means,  in 
precarious  health  and  in  seclusion,  remote  from  scientific 
associates,  collections  or  libraries,  until  his  work  is  a  monu- 
ment of  his  energy,  perseverance  and  ability,  honorable  to 
himself  and  to  the  State  in  the  name  of  which  it  is  published. 

The  other  departments  of  the  "  Natural  History  "  having 
come  to  an  end,  Mr.  Hall's  Palaeontology  alone  remains,  the 
final  summing  up  and  matured  result  of  the  geological  explo- 
ration of  one  of  the  most  interesting  and  instructive  regions 
of  the  globe. 

It  is  most  desirable  that  it  should  be  carried  out  and  com- 
pleted thoroughly,  that  it  may  stand  as  a  sound  and  perma- 
nent authority  in  science,  and  it  ,is  gratifying  to  one  who 
has  (as  I  have)  watched  its  slow  progress  and  many  embar- 
rassments, to  see  at  least  a  prospect  of  its  fair  establishment, 
and  of  the  long  delayed  justice  due  to  its  author. 

E.  W.  Leavenworth  to 
Ledyard  Lincklaen  ALBANY,  April  6,  1855. 

On  my  return  from  a  flying  visit  to  Syracuse  I  find 
your  very  interesting  favor  of  the  3ist  ult.  on  my  table. 
I  agree  with  pleasure  to  every  word  it  contains-.  I  came 
here  a  year  since  ignorant  of  this  whole  subject.  I  found 
Mr.  Hall  poor,  depressed,  discouraged,  surrounded  by  no 
small  amount  of  prejudice.  There  was  and  is  now  no 
plan  for  the  completion  of  his  great  work.  I  felt  anxious 
on  the  subject,  ascertained  in  my  own  mind  its  importance, 
merits  and  value,  and  resolved  if  possible  to  do  justice  to 
Hall  and  complete  the  work. 

But  I  was  all  alone,  not  a  person  here  feeling  any  interest 
in  Hall,  and  none  of  the  State  Officers  any  in  the  work. 


E.  W.  LEAVENWORTH  269 

To  accomplish  my  object  I  sent  for  Agassiz  and  Dewey,* 
had  a  meeting  in  my  office,  called  in  leading  Gentlemen  from 
the  City  &  Legislature,  interested  &  enlightened  them, 
and  have  now  a  Law  under  way  which  I  hope  &  expect 
will  pass,  which  will  enable  me  to  put  the  completion  of 
the  work  beyond  a  contingency,  and  to  do  tardy  justice  to 
Prof.  Hall.  *  *  * 

Hoping  that  all  your  wishes  and  my  own  also  may  be 
fully  realized  in  this  matter,  that  the  honor  of  the  State 
may  not  suffer  by  a  failure  to  have  this  great  work  furthered 
to  its  completion,  I  am,  etc. 

The  law  was  passed  within  a  year,  with  its  need- 
ful appropriations  and  Mr.  Hall  had  not  only  won 
relief  with  the  promise  of  fulfilment  but  the  agita- 
tion of  the  measure  had  won  him  applause  and 
friends.  Above  all  he  found  in  Mr.  Leavenworth 
a  stable  and  enduring  anchorage  and  to  him  and 
his  memory  should  be  attributed  no  small  measure 
of  the  continued  success  of  his  Palaeontology  of 
New  York.  But  meanwhile,  seeking  outlets  for 
his  entrapped  enthusiasm,  Mr.  Hall  had  been  find- 
ing other  interests. 

*  Rev.  Chester  Dewey,  first  professor  of  Chemistry  and  Natural 
Philosophy  in  the  University  of  Rochester. 


THE  PERIOD  OF  VOLUME  III— 1853-1860— Continued 


Geological  Survey  of  Iowa  —  University  of  Iowa  —  Organi- 
zation and  personnel  of  Survey  —  Josiah  D.  Whitney 
and  Amos  H.  Worthen  —  Benjamin  S.  Lyman  — 
Affairs  in  Illinois  —  Letters  to  Norwood  and  Worthen 

—  Hall  excluded  from  the  Illinois  Survey  —  Geologi- 
cal Survey  of  Wisconsin  —  History  and  reorganization 

—  James  G.  Percival's  work  —  Board  of  Commission- 
ers, Hall  in  charge  —  Warning  from  his  friends  —  Per- 
sonnel of  Survey ;  Carr  and  Daniels,  Whitney  and  Whit- 
tlesey  —  Increase  A.  Lapham's  appeal  for  a  botanical 
garden  —  Unsatisfactory      organization  —  Hall      made 
director  —  Not  allowed  to  complete  his  reports  —  His 
method  of  acquiring  research  materials  illustrated  — 
Wants  to  be  State  Geologist  of  New  Jersey  —  Helps 
in  Missouri  —  Seeks  charge  of   Ohio  Survey  —  Geo- 
logical Surveys  of  Texas,  Mississippi  and  California  — 
Pacific  Railroad  Surveys  —  Asked  by  Henry  to  take 
charge  of  U.  S.  Survey  of  New  Mexico — Relations 
with    Sir   William   Logan   and   Geological    Survey   of 
Canada  —  Logan  and  Hall  —  Elkanah  Billings,  Palaeon- 
tologist —  Hall  to  Logan  on  classification  —  Conserva- 
tive attitude  —  Correspondence  with  Dana. 

The  Iowa  Geological  Survey  and  the  State 
University 

THE  kidnapping  of  William  Morgan  from  the 
Canandaigua  (N.  Y.)  jail  after  his  expo- 
sure of  the  secrets  of   Masonry  in   1826, 
split  the  country  wide  apart  politically  and  in  New 
York  gave  birth  to  a  furiously  bitter  partisanship. 
[2701 


A  WHIG  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY    271 

Thurlow  Weed,  whose  home  was  in  the  nearby  vil- 
lage of  Rochester,  had  made  himself  one  of  the 
leaders,  with  the  "  Silver-Grays,"  of  the  Anti- 
masonic  party  and  came  on  to  Albany  to  establish 
at  the  Capital  an  Antimasonic  paper,  the  Albany 
Evening  Journal.  In  this  undertaking  he  had  the 
support  of  Lewis  Benedict  who,  upon  the  subsiding 
of  the  Morgan  issue,  was  to  become,  with  Weed, 
Seward  and  Greeley,  of  commanding  influence  in 
the  Whig  party.  In  the  early  '50s  Mr.  Benedict 
was  chairman  of  the  Whig  State  committee  and  in 
his  determination  to  perfect  the  organization  of 
the  Whig  party  throughout  the  other  states,  he 
traveled  into  the  Mississippi  valley  and  put  him- 
self in  touch  with  all  the  influential  Whigs  of  the 
region.  In  1854,  James  W.  Grimes  was  elected 
Governor  of  Iowa  by  a  Whig  and  Free  Soil 
majority.  Grimes  was  a  Dartmouth  graduate,  a 
man  of  intellectual  excellence  and  refinement  and 
in  his  first  message  to  his  legislature  recommended 
a  geological  exploration  of  the  State.  His  sug- 
gestion was  at  once  adopted,  in  January  1855,  and 
the  Governor  was  authorized  by  a  carefully  drawn 
statute  to  appoint  a  State  Geologist.  Concurrent 
legislation  also  provided  for  effective  organization 
of  the  State  University  which  up  to  this  time  had 
been  a  slumbering  scheme  on  the  statute  books. 
Governor  Grimes  doubtless  had  heard  of  the 
repute  of  the  New  York  Geological  Survey;  for 


272  JAMES  HALL 

already  in  early  February  brilliant  commendations 
of  Hall  written  by  Agassiz  and  Hitchcock  had 
found  their  way  into  his  mail;  so  he  turned  to  his 
Whig  mentor  at  Albany,  Lewis  Benedict,  for 
advice  with  regard  to  Hall,  and  Mr.  Benedict 
writes  to  ask  Hall  if  he  will  take  the  place. 
Though  Mr.  Hall  was  deeply  engaged  at  Montreal 
with  Canadian  geology  and  had  but  just  secured 
renewed  appropriations  for  his  own  New  York 
work,  he  at  once  tells  Mr.  Benedict  that  he  will 
accept  the  appointment  and  is  ready  to  take  the 
field  as  soon  as  the  season  opens  (1855).  He 
writes  to  Agassiz: 

"  You  may  perhaps  be  surprised  that  I  should  be  willing 
to  leave  New  York  with  my  work  here  unfinished  but  when 
you  know  all  the  circumstances  you  will  excuse  me  as  I 
feel  assured  will  every  one  else.  For  more  than  ten  years 
I  have  carried  forward  the  department  of  Palaeontology  with 
almost  no  aid  from  the  State  save  the  salary  of  $1500  which 
has  been  suspended  since  1850  and  I  have  now  to  depend  on 
other  sources  of  earning  my  living  while  I  devote  all  spare 
time  to  the  Palaeontology  of  New  York.  For  the  past  two 
years  I  have  devoted  considerable  time  to  the  examination 
of  mines  and  mineral  lands  but  this  pursuit  is  not  precisely 
consonant  with  my  feelings  and  I  would  prefer  to  be 
engaged  in  a  Geological  Survey  while  the  leisure  which  its 
duties  will  afford  in  winter  I  can  devote  to  the  completion 
of  the  work  for  New  York.  *  *  *  During  the  ten  years 
past  I  have  expended  for  this  object  more  than  $20,000 
beyond  all  that  has  been  received  from  the  State  and  now 
find  myself  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  doing  something  to 
support  my  family." 


ORGANIZATION  IN  IOWA          273 

Governor  Grimes  writes  to  Mr.  Benedict  by 
the  first  week  in  March,  that  he  will  appoint  Mr. 
Hall,  which  he  does  forthwith.  Under  the  law 
the  new  geologist  was  to  appoint  a  chemist  and 
mineralogist  with  the  approval  of  the  Gov- 
ernor and  the  whole  matter  of  these  appointments, 
together  with  the  affairs  of  the  State  University, 
was  of  such  moment  that  Governor  Grimes  came 
on  to  Albany  in  April  for  a  personal  conference. 
He  was  deeply  impressed  by  Mr.  Hall's  person- 
ality and  he  writes  to  his  wife  (April  21,  1855) 
regarding  him :  "  He  is  one  of  the  most  modest 
and  unobtrusive  men  I  have  ever  met." 

As  together  they  were  to  designate  the  "  Chem- 
ist and  Mineralogist "  for  the  Survey,  the  Gov- 
ernor suggested  John  W.  Foster.  Hall  had  but  just 
delivered  himself  of  a  tirade  of  .denunciation  of 
Foster  to  Joseph  Henry  for  pilfering  his  geological 
map,  and  he  demurred,  suggesting  Josiah  D. 
Whitney,  who  was  forthwith  confirmed  in  the  posi- 
tion; and  both  appointments  were  made  with  the 
further  understanding  that  the  appointees  were  to 
be  Professors  in  the  State  University  and  draw 
some  part  of  their  salaries  as  such.  The  confer- 
ence went  further  and  the  Governor  sought  Mr. 
Hall's  advice  as  to  the  Chancellorship  of  the  State 
University,  in  response  to  which  Hall  intimated 
the  name  of  Amos  Dean,  a  member  of  the  Albany 

bar  of  much  distinction.   After  conference  regard- 
is 


274  JAMES  HALL 

ing  this  with  Mr.  Benedict  and  Dr.  Romeyn  Beck 
this  office  was  formally  tendered  to  and  accepted 
by  Mr.  Dean.  In  his  plans  for  administration  of 
the  new  university  Mr.  Dean  was  intimately 
dependent  on  Hall.  They  two  with  the  advice  of 
Dr.  Armsby  drew  the  plan  of  organization  and 
Dean  writes  in  August  of  the  "  splendid  oppor- 
tunity of  building  up  in  time,  on  a  right  founda- 
tion, a  great  University  free  and  clear  of  all  the 
clogs  and  antiquated  notions,  old  fogyism  and 
sentimentalism  of  our  eastern  institutions."  Chan- 
cellor Dean,  it  may  be  added,  served  as  first  presi- 
dent of  the  University  of  Iowa  from  1855  to  the 
date  of  its  suspension,  1858,  Mr.  Hall  being  its  first 
professor  of  Geology  and  Natural  History. 

Had  it  not  been  for  the  cordial  and  unyielding 
support  of  Governor  Grimes  and  his  own  untiring 
and  self-confident  labor,  Mr.  Hall  could  never  have 
succeeded  with  this  distant  undertaking.  By  the 
closest  economy  of  his  time  he  could  command 
barely  a  month  or  two  of  the  year  and  the  appro- 
priation permitted  him  but  one  paid  assistant, 
a  position  for  which  there  were  many  candidates. 
John  Newberry  wanted  it,  Dr.  C.  C.  Parry  who 
had  been  on  Major  Emory's  Survey  of  the  Mexi- 
can Boundary  and  was  then  living  at  Burlington, 
la.,  believed  he  should  be  permitted  to  help,  and 
the  Rev.  W.  H.  Barris  of  New  York  and  Iowa 
wished  to  join.  Mr.  Whitney  was  disposed  to  be 


STATE  GEOLOGIST  OF  IOWA       275 

captious  over  his  appointment  and  declared  he 
would  not  serve  unless  his  credit  was  to  be  the 
equal  of  Hall's.  In  this  matter  Hall  was  gener- 
ous and  Whitney's  name  appears  on  the  title  of 
the  final  reports  although  this  was  against  the 
wishes  of  Governor  Grimes  who  repeatedly 
assured  Mr.  Hall  that  he  was  the  sole  responsible 
head  of  the  Survey. 

The  Palaeontologist  at  Albany  conducted  this 
remote  Survey  with  extraordinary  cleverness.  He 
commissioned  Whitney  to  devote  himself  to  the 
lead,  zinc,  coal  and  quarry  interests.  As  his  official 
assistant  he  appointed  an  enthusiastic  collector  of 
fossils,  Amos  H.  Worthen  of  Illinois,  who  was  the 
possessor  of  the  finest  collections  of  crinoids  and 
other  fossils  yet  made  from  the  rocks  of  Illinois, 
which  were  the  same  as  those  in  Iowa  and  lay 
just  across  the  Mississippi  river.  This  engage- 
ment was  subject  to  the  condition  that  Worthen 
should  permit  Hall  to  describe  his  fossils  in  the 
Iowa  reports.  There  was  some  volunteer  help  on 
the  Survey  from  Parry  and  Edward  Hungerford, 
a  young  man  from  Silliman's  laboratory  who  could 
afford  to  work  for  the  experience,1  and  a  number 
of  others. 

The  key  to  the  geology  of  the  State  lay  in  the 
section  along  the  Mississippi  river,  and  the  task  of 

1  Mr.  Hungerford  afterward  became  professor  of  geology  at  Ver- 
mont University. 


276  JAMES  HALL 

the  surveyor  was  to  follow  these  outcrops  inland. 
Once  their  width  and  bearing  were  determined  it 
was  very  simple  geology  to  trace  their  boundaries 
with  sufficient  accuracy  to  draw  them  out  into  a 
colored  map.  This  was  the  business  of  the  young 
men,  who  followed  the  sections  up  the  contributory 
streams  and  then  made  traverses  across  country  in 
mule-drawn  wagons  carrying  their  camp  equipage. 

Mr.  Whitney's  commission  specially  charged 
him  with  the  economic  field,  but  he  was  actually 
under  instructions  from  his  chief  to  lose  no  oppor- 
tunity to  acquire  fossils,  and  when  the  inevitable 
rupture  between  these  two  men  came  Whitney 
declares  he  could  not  finish  his  lead  report  in  time 
because  he  had  to  collect  so  many  fossils.  Hall 
coolly  tells  him  that  was  his  own  lookout;  he  was 
employed  to  study  the  mines. 

Such  a  blithe  and  frisky  survey  as  it  was !  The 
chief  made  a  hasty  reconnoitre  in  the  autumn  of 
1855  and  reserved  his  other  visits  to  the  state  for 
the  winter  meetings  of  the  legislature.  The  field 
was  left  to  the  young  men  who  for  the  most  part 
made  and  carried  out  their  own  plans  and  spent 
no  small  part  of  their  time  besieging  the  Governor 
and  the  financial  officers  of  the  State  for  money. 
Iowa  was  frontier  country;  settlement  had  not 
extended  far  in  from  the  eastern  river  bottoms, 
taxes  were  so  immoderately  low  that  the  treasury 
was  often  empty.  Whitney  and  Worthen  would 


PROCEDURES  IN  IOWA  277 

get  the  Governor's  orders  on  the  Comptroller, 
whose  warrant  to  pay  they  would  carry  to  the 
Treasurer,  only  to  be  told  that  there  would  be  no 
money  till  the  next  tax  collection,  which  might  be 
months  away.  So  to  Albany  these  warrants  must 
be  sent  and  Mr.  Hall  had  to  borrow  upon  them 
as  best  he  could  from  his  bank,  but  always  at  a  sore 
discount.  The  personal  checks  that  he  sent  back 
to  Iowa  were  subject  to  another  discount.  "  Funny 
country  this,"  says  Whitney,  "  where  a  banker 
charges  me  12  per  cent  discount  on  your  check  and 
says  he  is  doing  it  as  a  matter  of  personal  accom- 
modation to  the  Survey." 

As  the  Survey  progressed  into  its  third  season 
Hall  and  Whitney  felt  the  need  of  additional  help 
in  the  coal  fields  and  J.  P.  Lesley,2  then  in  Phila- 
delphia, struggling  in  poverty  against  a  tide  of 
opportunities  in  iron  mining  which  seemed  almost 
to  condemn  him  to  affluence  and  comfort,  wrote  to 
Hall  in  the  spring  of  1858: 

"  I  could  provide  you  with  a  very  fine  fellow,  active,  ener- 
getic, persevering  as  a  bulldog,  regardless  of  exposure  and 
patient  under  fatigue,  intelligent  and  with  a  thoroughbred, 
scientific  mind,  but  not  experienced  in  geology  beyond  his 
field  work  with  me.  Were  it  my  survey  instead  of  yours, 

2  This  distinguished  geologist,  one  of  the  manliest  figures  in 
American  science;  organizer  and  executive  of  the  Second  Geological 
Survey  of  Pennsylvania,  born  in  Philadelphia  and  trained  in  Yankee 
theology,  was  at  this  time  harassed  by  the  adjustments  of  an  en- 
grafted Puritan  conscience  to  the  effort  of  making  a  living  in  the 


278  JAMES  HALL 

I  should  certainly  put  him  on  to  it,  with  confidence  that  he 
would  do  me  full  credit  and  himself  too.  I  am  speaking  of 
Ben  Lyman." 

And  so  Benjamin  Smith  Lyman,  the  writer's 
friend  of  many  years,  distinguished  now  for  his 
geological  researches  in  the  Punjab  and  Japan  as 
well  as  his  extensive  work  in  Pennsylvania,  joined 
the  Iowa  Survey  and  is  its  only  surviving  mem- 
ber.3 Mr.  Lyman  was  an  untiring  worker,  tramp- 
ing the  intervals  between  the  coal  mines,  sleeping 

city  of  his  birth.  In  1857,  ln  partnership  with  his  brother  Joseph, 
his  stationery  bore  the  printed  superscription: 

"  Geological  and  other  Maps  Constructed ;  Surveys  of  Coal 
Lands  made ;  Mineral  Deposits  examined ;  Geological  Opinions 
given  to  guide  purchasers,  and  Reports  made  to  Owners  and 
Agents. 

"  Orders  for  elaborate  Topographical  Surveys  from  Rail- 
roads and  other  companies  will  be  executed  on  scientific  prin- 
ciples and  in  the  highest  style  of  the  art. 

"J.  P.  &  J.  LESLEY,  JR., 
"Office,  407  Walnut  Street." 

Business  was  not  paying  and  he  writes  to  Hall  in  November: 

"I  am  obliged  to  lecture  this  winter.  Can  I  get  a  chance 
to  deliver  one  or  two  paying  lectures  on  Iron,  etc.,  or  on  some 
literary  subject  in  Albany  and  Troy?" 

And  in  the  spring  of  1858  he  was  planning  to  join  Owen's 
Geological  Survey  of  Kentucky  as  "  subassistant,  crops,  camp  and 
means  of  transportation,  and  a  per  diem  of  $5.00." 

Many  sketches  of  Mr.  Lesley's  life  have  been  printed,  none,  how- 
ever, a  more  intimate  and  sympathetic  portrayal  of  his  career  than 
that  by  Professor  William  M.  Davis  for  the  Biographies  of  the 
National  Academy. 

8  Since  this  was  written  Mr.  Lyman  has  joined  the  other  members 
of  that  survey. 


THE  GEOLOGICAL  CART  279 

where  he  could  find  some  haphazard  farmhouse 
on  the  prairie,  but  he  nearly  broke  up  the 
organization  by  deciding  to  have  a  wagon- 
maker  construct  for  him  a  great  cart  of  five  foot 
gage,  big  enough  to  travel  and  sleep  in.  The 
wagon-maker  saw  an  opportunity  of  advertising 
his  business  and  so  he  painted  the  great  wagon 
in  a  style  to  attract  attention  —  the  wheels 
yellow  and  the  box  red.  But  who  was  to  pay  for 
this  gorgeous  wagon?  Mr.  Hall  declared  he 
didn't  know,  but  would  ask  Governor  Lowe  (Gov- 
ernor Grimes  was  now  United  States  Senator) 
who  could  not  quite  see  where  the  money  was  com- 
ing from,  though  when  the  treasury  could  afford 
it  the  insistent  wagon-maker  received  a  small  pay- 
ment on  account.  This  great  State  chariot  with 
its  bright  red  box  and  lemon  yellow  wheels  was 
the  subject  of  vast  concern  to  the  State  authorities 
but  it  never  became  Mr.  Lyman's  triumphal  car. 
It  was  not  paid  for  when  the  Survey  was  discon- 
tinued in  1859,  and  by  that  time  Mr.  Lyman  was 
presenting  his  lettres  de  cachet  from  Hall  to  his  old 
friend  the  Count  de  Verneuil,  at  Paris. 

The  Geological  Survey  of  Iowa  had  the  staunch 
support  of  the  citizens  until  an  opposition  which 
was  accredited  to  the  State  University  terminated 
the  appropriations  before  the  State  was  covered, 
and  the  final  report,  which  was  in  two  books  called 
"  Volume  I,  parts  1  and  2,"  dealt  only  with  the 


280  JAMES  HALL 

eastern  part  of  the  State.  It  seems  very  clear  that 
if  Mr.  Hall  had  chosen  to  take  an  active  personal 
part  in  urging  its  continuation  it  would  have  gone 
on.  But  he  had  already  accomplished  his  objec- 
tive by  producing  as  one  of  these  volumes  a  beau- 
tifully illustrated  account  of  the  palaeontology  of 
the  State  which  he  may  well  have  thought  would 
not  be  much  improved  by  further  explorations  and 
which,  next  to  his  New  York  volumes,  was  of  high- 
est merit.  He  had  levied  on  every  possible  supply 
of  fossils  and  with  the  aid  of  Mr.  Worthen's  col- 
lection he  made  a  contribution  to  the  science  which 
is  today  of  fundamental  value.  Mr.  Meek  and 
Hall's  new  assistant  at  Albany,  Mr.  Whitfield, 
delineated  the  beautiful  plates  of  scores  of  species 
and  as  a  mark  of  good  feeling  all  around  the  author 
distributed  the  honors  of  immortality  with  impartial 
hand  among  his  associates,  as  bear  witness  some 
ten  species  named  for  Mr.  Worthen,  a  Spirifer 
Whitneyi,  a  Spirifer  Hungerfordi,  a  Spirifer 
Parryanus,  and  another  which  played  a  serious  fig- 
ure, it  is  said,  in  Governor  Grimes's  campaign  for 
the  United  States  Senate  —  a  magnificent  and 
imposing  creature  which  Hall  chose  with  eminent 
propriety  to  christen  with  the  name  of  his  friend, 
Spirifer  Grimesi,  and  which  the  Governor's 
political  opponents  declared  he  had  himself  named 
in  glorification  of  his  own  achievements  before 
the  people  of  Iowa! 


UNIVERSITY  OF  IOWA  281 

Governor  Lowe,  to  whom  jointly  with  Governor 
Grimes  the  final  reports  were  inscribed,  took  great 
pride  in  the  books  and  in  their  wide  distribution, 
for  which  generous  provision  was  made.  Mr. 
Lowe's  personal  regard  for  Professor  Hall  is 
shown  in  a  letter  of  September,  1858,  wherein  he 
asks  Hall  to  get  the  Albany  banks  to  cash  $50,000 
Iowa  8  per  cent  treasury  warrants  to  help  the  com- 
pletion of  a  State  Insane  Hospital  for  which  they 
had  no  money. 

It  does  not  appear  that  either  Professor  Hall 
or  Professor  Whitney  ever  delivered  a  lecture  in 
the  State  University  to  whose  faculty  they 
belonged.4 

4  As  a  very  appropriate  addendum  to  this  story,  I  give  here  part 
of  a  letter  recently  received  from  President  Emeritus  Thomas  H. 
Macbride,  of  the  University  of  Iowa,  which  has  reference  to  the 
real  influence  whkh  Hall's  work  exerted  on  the  fortunes  of  that 
great  institution: 

"  With  regard  to  Dr.  Hall's  connection  with  the  University,  I 
have  made  a  transcript  of  the  announcements  issued  by  the  Uni- 
versity in  those  early  years,  from  the  bound  volume  in  the  University 
Library  which  contains  -these  records.  The  first  transcript  presents 
the  names  of  the  faculty  and  the  departments  with  which  they 
were  associated.  This  for  1856  and  1857.  The  second  gives  a  more 
complete  description  in  each  case,  but  I  have  taken  the  trouble  to 
write  out  the  outline  of  each  professor's  subject  as  presented  by 
himself,  in  the  case  of  Dr.  Hall  and  Dr.  Whitney  only.  I  believe 
you  will  find  both  of  these  outlines  interesting,  and  I  beg  to  call 
your  attention  in  the  last  mentioned  to  the  purposes  which  the 
professor  undoubtedly  had  in  mind.  This  is  indicated  by  his  fourth 
item,  the  "  application  of  all  these  to  Agriculture,"  a  sort  of  pre- 
monition of  the  work  which  the  State  is  now  doing  in  that  direction, 
since  \ve  have  one  of  the  greatest  schools  of  agriculture  in  the 


282  JAMES  HALL 

The  Illinois  Geological  Survey 

The  Iowa  work  having  been  successfully  done, 
Mr.  Hall  indulges  in  one  of  his  extravaganzas  of 
tactlessness.  For  his  assistant,  Mr.  Worthen,  he 
had  acquired  the  highest  esteem  and  beyond  doubt 
the  excellence  of  the  report  was  in  generous  degree 
due  to  his  diligence  and  devotion.  There  was  a 

country.  I  beg  to  say  also  that,  to  begin  with,  the  University  was 
organized  for  the  purpose  of  preparing  young  people  for  service 
in  the  public  school  system,  at  that  time  just  beginning  its  history. 
It  turned  out  that  the  funds  of  the  institution  were  insufficient  from 
year  to  year  to  meet  expenses.  Accordingly  the  work  of  the  Uni- 
versity was  actually  suspended  from  1858  to  1860.  This  was  true 
of  all  departments  except  that  of  education.  Now  you  see  the 
whole  story.  The  University  was  organized  primarily  to  do  normal 
work;  in  its  science,  primarily  to  do  the  work  of  the  agriculturist, 
and  the  issue  of  it  is  that  we  have  a  great  University  doing  uni- 
versity work,  a  great  normal  school  educating  teachers,  and  a  great 
state  college  working  for  the  farmer.  To  this  latter  accomplishment 
Dr.  Hall's  work  particularly  contributed,  although  his  magnificent 
study  of  geology  as  a  pure  science  has  made  the  strength  of  the 
liberal  arts  college  in  that  science  notable  ever  since. 
Yours  very  sincerely, 

Thomas  H.  Macbride." 

The  outline  of  Hall's  courses  is  as  follows : 

Department  of  Natural  History. 

James  Hall,  A.M.,  Professor. 
The  subjects  to  be  taught  in  this  Department  are 

1.  Zoology,  including  the  Philosophy  of  Natural  History. 

2.  Botany,  including  the  Laws  of  Vegetable  Life. 

3.  Mineralogy  and  Geology. 

4.  The  applications  of  all  these  to  Agriculture.     The  large  col- 
lections   in    Mineralogy    and    Natural    History    which    have    been 
accumulating  during  the  progress  of  the  State  Geological  Survey, 
will  shortly  be  arranged  in  the  Cabinet  of  the  University. 


HALL  TO  GOVERNOR  BISSELL    283 

movement  afoot  in  Illinois,  Mr.  Worthen's  State, 
late  in  1857,  to  reorganize  its  geological  survey, 
which  was  leading  a  sluggish  existence  under  the 
direction  of  Dr.  J.  G.  Norwood.  Mr.  Worthen 
sought  the  appointment;  likewise  Mr.  J.  H. 
McChesney,  while  Dr.  Norwood,  who  was  a  most 
amiable  gentleman  with  the  faults  of  amiability, 
desired  the  opportunity  to  complete  his  reports. 
Mr.  Worthen  turned  to  Hall  for  help  and  received 
it  in  full  measure,  for  he  not  only  wrote  favorably 
to  Governor  Bissell  regarding  him  but  he  sent  the 
following  letter  to  Hitchcock,  Agassiz  and  Dana: 

ALBANY,  Dec.  28,  18=57. 
MY  DEAR  SIR: 

,  The  Governor  of  Illinois  contemplates  making  a  change 
in  the  organization  of  the  Geological  Survey  of  that  State, 
or  in  other  words  replacing  Dr.  Norwood  by  a  more  efficient 
man.  My  assistant  in  the  Iowa  Survey,  Mr.  A.  H.  Worthen, 
who  is  a  citizen  of  Illinois,  js  an  applicant  for  the  place  and 
quite  competent  to  fill  it.  Indeed  I  think,  without  disparage- 
ment to  any  other  Geologist  in  the  west,  that  he  understands 
better  the  sequence  of  the  formations  and  is  better  prepared 
to  identify  them,  than  any  other  one.  He  is  industrious 
and  persevering,  and  would  be  untiring  in  the  pursuit  of  his 
science  could  he  have  such  a  position. 

I  have  ventured  to  ask  you,  on  the  strength  of  my  repre- 
sentations, to  give  Mr.  Worthen  a  letter  of  recommendation, 
and  I  pledge  myself  that  if  he  receives  the  appointment  the 
work  shall  be  done  in  a  creditable  manner  and  a  manner  of 
which  the  State  and  the  Geologists  of  the  country  shall  have 
good  reason  to  be  proud. 


284  JAMES  HALL 

If  you  feel  disposed  to  give  such  a  letter  please  address 
Hon.  William  H.  Bissell,  Governor,  Springfield,  111.,  or  you 
may  if  you  please  inclose  it  to  me  and  I  will  forward  it. 

The  Governor  has  said  that  there  shall  be  no  favoritism, 
but  the  choice  shall  be  determined  on  the  merits  of  the 
applicants,  and  testimony  of  scientific  men. 

I  know  of  only  one  other  applicant,  and  he  has  had  very 
little  experience  in  such  work  and  I  think  on  the  terms  above 
stated  would  not  receive  the  appointment. 

With  kind  regards  &c. 

Believe  me  very  sincerely  yours 

JAMES  HALL 

Thereupon,  moved  by  a  generous  impulse 
toward  a  discredited  colleague,  he  shortly  sent  this 
letter  to  Dr.  Norwood: 

ALBANY  Jan.  g,   1858 
MY  DEAR  SIR: 

I  have  learned  from  several  sources  that  Gov.  Bissell  pro- 
poses to  do  something  in  regard  to  your  Geological  Survey 
and  I  have  written  a  recommendation  for  Worthen  in  case 
any  changes  are  made,  for  I  think  him  worthy  of  the  place. 

If  you  will  understand  me,  I  have  no  opposition  to 
you,  nor  will  I  do  anything  to  affect  your  position.  If  it  is 
in  any  way  possible  for  me  to  help  you  to  bring  before  the 
public  the  results  of  your  labors  of  so  many  years  past  I 
shall  be  most  happy  to  do  so.  Why  will  you  not  at  once 
do  something  to  put  the  matter  in  form  and  to  divest  every- 
body of  cause  of  complaint?  You  shall  have  all  my  assist- 
ance and  Worthen's  too  so  far  as  I  am  concerned  if  you  will 
only  consent  to  do  something  that  will  put  you  right  before 
the  public  and  maintain  your  reputation  among  scientific 
men. 


A CROBA  TIC  LETTER  WRITING      285 

Do  not  be  offended  at  my  remarks  for  I  mean  no  offence. 

I  shall  be  in  Springfield  in  February  and  if  you  can 
induce  Gov.  Bissell  to  postpone  action  till  that  time  I  will 
see  what  can  be  done  to  help  to  a  reconciliation  of  all  parties 
and  claims,  and  help  you  to  earn  your  just  reputation,  so  far 
as  my  poor  efforts  can  be  available. 

With  kind  regards 

Yours  truly 

JAMES  HALL 
Dr.  J.  G.  Norwood 

Mr.  McChesney,  the  third  candidate,  was  the 
owner  of  another  large  and  unstudied  collection 
of  fossils  from  which  Hall's  eyes  and  his  desire 
could  not  be  turned  and  he  personally  writes  to  him 
intimating  the  importance  of  having  his  fossils 
described  and  how  gladly  he  would  describe  them 
in  case  he,  McChesney,  should  receive  the  appoint- 
ment of  State  Geologist! 

It  was  a  daring  act,  this  attempt  to  ride  three 
horses  at  once  and  the  kindly  Providence  that 
usually  watched  over  him  turned  its  smiling  face 
to  the  clouds  on  this  occasion.5 

It  is  easier  to  guess  than  to  picture  the  result 
of  this  singular  procedure,  for  naturally  each  one 
of  the  three  men  presented  his  documents  to  Gov- 
ernor Bissell  and  Hall  was  presently  made  aware 

5 "  I  have  found  that  Providence  is  usually  on  my  side,"  he  said 
to  me  thirty  years  later,  the  morning  after  the  death  of  a  vicious 
enemy  in  office  who  had  declared  his  intention  of  having  him  dis- 
placed next  day. 


286  JAMES  HALL 

of  the  fact  that  where  he  had  lately  had  three 
friends  he  now  had  four  enemies,  one  of  whom 
was  the  Governor  of  Illinois.  It  was  a  lamentable 
and  extraordinary  procedure;  lamentable  because 
it  led  to  estrangement  and  bitterness  between  Hall 
and  Mr.  Worthen,  who  received  the  appointment 
and  held  it  fourteen  years  with  great  credit  to  him- 
self, his  state  and  the  science;  and  from  all  part 
in  this  work,  rich  in  its  palaeontology,  Hall  was 
excluded.  Mr.  McChesney  came  on  to  Albany  and 
joined  the  New  York  corps  for  a  little  while,  but 
his  collection  lagged  behind  him  in  Illinois  and 
eventually  fell  to  the  service  of  the  Illinois  men. 

The  Geological  Survey  of  Wisconsin 

On  an  earlier  page  we  have  made  reference  to 
Increase  A.  Lapham,  a  farmer's  boy  and  stone- 
cutter from  Palmyra,  N.  Y.,  and  frequently  to 
Ezra  S.  Carr,  Hall's  young  assistant  during  the 
Fourth  District  Survey.  These  were  both  men 
now  and  both  had  become  residents  of  Wisconsin. 
Lapham  had  long  been  the  leading  spirit  in  science 
in  the  State,6  a  man  of  wide  and  varied  interests, 
while  Carr  had  more  recently  come  to  a  pro- 
fessorship in  the  State  University.  Wisconsin 

8  "  By  profession  a  civil  engineer,  he  had  become  at  an  early  day 
a  faithful  collector,  observer  and  recorder  of  natural  phenomena 
in  nearly  all  leading  lines  from  bed-rock  to  sky.  He  was  at  once 
a  botanist,  a  zoologist,  an  archeologist,  a  geologist  and  a  meteorolo- 
gist. He  was  a  distinguished  example  of  the  best  order  of  the  old 


JAMES  G.  PERCIVAL  287 

had  organized  a  geological  survey  in  1853  and 
its  fortunes  had  ebbed  and  flowed  since  that  time. 
Edward  Daniels,  a  political  apothecary,  had  been 
the  first  official  appointee  and  he  had  been  promptly 
succeeded  by  Dr.  James  G.  Percival,  the  poet- 
geologist.  Percival  was  a  singular  and  extraor- 
dinary figure  in  American  literature  and  science, 
a  ragged  Ishmaelite  whose  soul  was  ever  burst- 
ing into  song,  a  hapless  genius  who  knew  no 
friendly  voices  except  those  of  the  woods  and  the 
rocks,  who  bubbled  out  his  real  soul  in  rime  and 
wrote  the  most  atrocious  and  barren  of  all  geo- 
logical documents.  "  His  clothes  were  shabby ;  his 
trousers  more  often  than  otherwise  frayed  at  the 
bottom  and  patched  in  various  places  by  his  own 
hands.  Eight  months  of  the  year  he  wore  an  old 
glazed  cap  with  ear-tabs  of  sheepskin,  the  woolly 
side  turned  in,  and  a  gray  cloak.  Whenever  the 
cap  came  off  it  revealed  a  classic  head  and  for  the 
first  time  one  would  notice  the  fineness  of  the  fea- 
tures and  eyes  of  unusual  splendor.  *  *  *  "He 
became  a  familiar  figure  in  the  fields  and  woods 
of  Wisconsin  and  was  generally  known  as  Old 
Stonebreaker.  Some  of  the  boys  made  sport  of 
him  but  the  little  children  all  over  the  State  knew 


school  of  all-round  students  of  natural  science.  Probably  we  owe  to 
Dr.  Lapham,  more  than  to  any  other  single  individual,  the  establish- 
ment of  our  Weather  Service.  He  served  as  the  first  general 
secretary  of  the  [Wisconsin]  Academy."  (Professor  Thomas  C. 
Chamberlin  in  Science,  July  2,  1920.) 


288  JAMES  HALL 

and  loved  him.  He  was  always  poorly  clad  and 
suffered  greatly  from  exposure  in  winter."  7  From 
a  cold  contracted  in  December,  1855,  Dr.  Percival 
died  at  Hazel  Green,  Wis.,  the  following  May. 

By  1856  there  was  a  serious  purpose  to  discon- 
tinue the  appropriations,  but  upon  the  death  of 
Dr.  Percival  the  legislature  of  1856-57  formed  a 
new  organization  under  a  Board  of  Commissioners 
made  up  of  Hall,  Daniels  and  Carr.  It  may  be 
repeated  that  Hall  was  then  not  only  busy  with  the 
Iowa  Survey  but  had  an  important  engagement 
with  Sir  William  Logan  on  the  Survey  of  Canada, 
was  the  president  of  the  American  Association  for 
the  Advancement  of  Science,  an  office  which 
brought  serious  duties,  and  the  New  York  work 
was  now  moving  apace  under  its  renewed  pro- 
vision. It  was  just  at  this  time  that  his  devoted 
friend  Newberry  called  out  his  warning: 

"  I  venture  to  suggest  again  what  I  have  done  in  person, 
that  you  are  attempting  too  much,  more  than  flesh  and 
blood  and  brain  can  do.  And  while  in  one  sense  you  have 
a  right  to  do  with  your  own  time  and  ability  just  what  you 
please,  it  is  equally  true  that  your  friends  and  the  friends 
of  Science  are  involved  in  the  consequences  of  your  acts, 
and  would  suffer  an  irreparable  loss  if  by  care  and  over- 
work your  health  should  be  permanently  broken." 

In  many  ways  Mr.  Hall  was  excellently  equipped 
for  the  Wisconsin  Survey.  He  had  had  an  exten- 

7F.  G.  Cogswell:     James  Gates  Percival  and  His  Friends,  1902. 


GEOLOGY  IN  WISCONSIN  289 

sive  experience  with  the  old  rocks  of  the  northern 
area  in  his  work  with  the  Foster  and  Whitney  sur- 
vey and  in  various  private  enterprises,  and  with 
the  southern  region  he  had  an  even  longer  stand- 
ing acquaintance.  The  present  arrangement  made 
him  virtually  a  chief,  but  almost  of  necessity  chief 
in  absentia,  Dr.  Carr  acting  largely  as  executive 
officer  on  the  ground  and  Mr.  Daniels  being  merely 
an  uncomfortable  tradition  and  a  more  or  less  active 
obstacle  to  the  operations  of  the  survey.  To  all 
these  men  Mr.  Lapham  acted  in  the  capacity  of 
guide,  philosopher  and  friend,  taking  no  official 
part  upon  its  rolls  though  actually  contributing  to 
its  results.  Mr.  Hall  immediately  entered  into  a 
contract  with  Josiah  D.  Whitney  to  extend  his 
work  upon  the  lead  region  into  Wisconsin,  and 
thus  this  important  study  eventually  covered  the 
lead  country  of  three  States,  Iowa,  Wisconsin  and 
Illinois;  and  also  with  Colonel  Whittlesey,  his 
former  associate  in  the  Foster  and  Whitney  sur- 
vey, for  the  study  of  the  mining  field  south  of  Lake 
Superior.  Mr.  Hall  visited  Madison  in  the  early 
winter  of  1857  to  confer  with  Governor  Randall 
and  make  such  provision  as  he  could  with  refer- 
ence to  a  continuance  of  the  appropriation,  but  he 
could  not  find  time  to  take  the  field.  Matters  did 
not  go  very  smoothly  and  the  form  of  organization 
was  not  to  his  liking;  Mr.  Daniels  was  a  chain  and 
ball  on  his  leg;  Dr.  Carr  did  not  prove  a  man  of 

19 


290  JAMES  HALL 

much  initiative;  Whitney  was  working  under  a 
year  by  year  contract  and  Whittlesey  kept  writing 
to  his  chief  suggesting  that  Hall  resign  in  his 
favor.  Worse  than  all,  from  Hall's  point  of  view, 
there  was  no  one  collecting  fossils,  except  Mr. 
Lapham  in  a  desultory  way,  and  there  were  few 
private  collections  to  borrow  from.  Public  senti- 
ment in  the  State  was  strongly  behind  the  develop- 
ment of  the  mine  fields  as  Mr.  Hall  had  planned  it, 
but  this  phase  of  the  work  called  for  all  the 
available  funds  and  nothing  was  left  for  palae- 
ontology. Hall  quite  correctly  assumed  that  if  his 
reports  on  the  geology  of  Wisconsin  were  to  have 
lasting  worth  and  meet  the  immediate  demands  of 
the  science  they  must  present  something  besides  a 
statement  of  probable  mineral  resources  and  hy- 
potheses of  their  origin.  The  experience  in  Iowa 
had  made  this  very  clear  and  it  is  needless  to  say 
that  his  judgment  was  right,  for  today  the  chief 
value  of  his  Iowa  report  lies  in  its  Palaeontology. 
He  fretted  over  the  situation  as  he  saw  the  appro- 
priation entirely  absorbed  by  Whitney  and  Whit- 
tlesey and  he  quite  overlooked  the  fact  that  he  had 
made  an  agreement  with  the  State  to  carry  on  a 
natural  history  survey  and  that  the  law  specifically 
called  for  certain  botanical  work.  He  is  reminded 
of  this  by  Mr.  Lapham  in  a  letter  which  well  dis- 
plays its  writer's  fine  vision  and  large  hopes  for  his 
State  —  regardless  of  appropriations : 


LAPHAM'S  BOTANICAL  GARDENS    291 

MILWAUKEE  April  2,  1857 
MY  DEAR  SIR: 

Of  course  you  are  aware  of  the  success  of  the  efforts 
to  obtain  an  appropriation  for  the  continuance  of  the  Geo- 
logical Survey  of  Wisconsin.  I  beg  to  call  your  attention 
as  one  of  the  commissioners  to  the  clause  in  the  law  requir- 
ing a  full  collection  to  be  made  of  "  cultivated  and  other 
useful  plants."  Now  as  there  are  but  few  plants  that  are 
entirely  useless  I  take  it  that  this  includes  a  pretty  large 
share  of  the  vegetable  kingdom.  What  I  wish  to  suggest 
is  that  this  collection  should  include  not  only  the  herbarium 
of  dried  specimens  arranged  in  books,  but  also  seeds,  woods, 
and  generally  all  curious  and  useful  vegetable  products, 
with  many  of  the  articles  prepared  from  the  same.  Such 
a  collection  properly  arranged  with  tickets  showing  the 
name,  origin,  uses,  etc.  of  each  article  could  not  fail  to  be 
a  very  valuable  source  of  information  for  the  people  who 
would  have  free  access  to  it. 

I  know  of  but  one  such  collection  in  the  world;  that  at 
the  Kew  Gardens  near  London  under  the  direction  of  Sir 
W.  J.  Hooker.  This  "  museum  of  economic  botany  "  is 
found  to  be  of  great  service  not  only  to  the  scientific  botanist, 
but  to  the  merchant,  the  manufacturer,  the  physician,  the 
chemist,  the  druggist,  the  dyer,  the  carpenter,  the  cabinet 
maker  and  artisans  of  every  description  who  find  here  the 
raw  material  employed  in  their  several  professions  correctly 
named  and  accompanied  by  some  account  of  its  origin, 
native  country,  etc.,  either  attached  to  the  specimen  or 
recorded  in  a  popular  catalogue.  Over  300,000  persons 
visit  this  museum  annually,  thus  showing  the  deep  interest 
the  public  feel  in  it;  many  of  them  are  attentive  visitors, 
taking  notes,  and  making  drawings  of  articles  exhibited. 
This  collection  appeals  directly  to  the  faculties  and  under- 
standings, showing  the  practical  uses  of  the  study  of  Botany, 


292  JAMES  HALL 

and  the  services  thus  rendered  to  mankind.  It  has  done 
more  to  recommend  and  popularize  the  science  that  com- 
municates a  knowledge  of  the  vegetable  creation  than  all 
the  princely  palms,  gorgeous  water-lilies,  elegant  ferns,  etc. 
in  the  "  tropical  houses  "  of  those  noble  gardens.  Its  utility 
is  further  testified  by  the  remark  of  not  a  few  visitors  — 
"  Now  we  see  for  the  first  time  in  our  lives,  and  on  a  large 
scale,  a  practical  application  of  the  science  of  Botany." 

In  arranging  and  distributing  the  functions  of  the  survey 
(see  sec.  2  of  the  act)  would  it  not  be  well  to  appoint  an 
assistant  well  skilled  in  botany  (like  me  for  instance!!)  to 
take  special  charge  of  this  portion  of  the  work  and  to  appor- 
tion a  proper  share  of  the  appropriation  to  meet  the  necessary 
expenses  ? 

Hall  was  an  appreciative  botanist  but  he  could 
not  undertake  to  inaugurate  Kew  Gardens  at  Madi- 
son on  an  appropriation  for  a  Geological  Survey 
which  was  so  meagre  as  to  starve  out  palae- 
ontology. In  the  hope  of  bettering  the  situation 
Mr.  Hall  with  the  aid  of  Mr.  Lapham  and  his  large 
circle  of  friends  induced  Governor  Randall  to 
recommend  a  change  in  the  law  so  that  in  1860 
Hall  became  the  responsible  head,  with  the  title  of 
Superintendent.  In  the  meantime  Hall  had  been 
using  his  private  funds  for  the  collection  and 
illustration  of  palaeontological  material  and  now 
proceeded  to  get  together  his  final  report  which 
was  to  be,  like  the  Iowa  report,  one  volume  of 
general  and  economic  geology  and  one  of  palae- 
ontology. The  reports  by  Mr.  Whitney  and  Colonel 


WISCONSIN  SURVEY  ENDS        293 

Whittlesey  and  a  chapter  on  the  topography  and 
geography  by  Mr.  Lapham,  were  thus  printed,  but 
it  became  evident  before  the  printing  was  through 
that  the  State  would  not  permit  the  preparation  of 
a  second  volume  to  cover  the  palaeontology.  With 
the  help  of  Mr.  Lapham  a  list  of  fossils  was  made 
up  and  printed  at  the  end  of  the  report  and  when 
this  book  was  completed  the  work  was  done,,  the 
Survey  over,  the  appropriations  closed  and  Hall 
was  left  with  the  expensive  drawings  and  valuable 
manuscript  of  a  volume  on  the  Palaeontology  and 
a  claim  against  the  State  for  expenditures  which 
was  never  paid.  He  had  received  short  shrift  at 
the  hands  of  the  legislature.  If  the  Executive  had 
been  endowed  with  the  far-seeing  intelligence  of 
Grimes  and  Lowe  of  Iowa,  Wisconsin  might  have 
had  from  this  undertaking  a  scientific  monument 
of  enduring  importance  instead  of  a  record  with  a 
purely  transitory  value.  To  Hall  this  Survey  was 
ever  a  source  of  chagrin  and  indignant  mortifica- 
tion. He  did,  indeed,  describe  its  fossils  but  the 
credit  therefor  went  to  the  New  York  reports 
which  contained  them,  rather  than  to  the  State 
which  should  have  treasured  them.  His  defeated 
hopes  lay  in  this,  that  his  activities  in  the  Missis- 
sippi Valley  had  lifted  the  veil  from  an  unbelievable 
treasure  among  the  fossil  Crinoidea  —  the  sea 
lilies.  He  had  portrayed  them  beautifully  but  only 
in  part  in  his  Iowa  volume  and  to  Illinois  he  had 


294  JAMES  HALL 

hoped  to  dedicate  the  rest.  His  hasty  intervention 
in  the  affairs  of  Illinois  had  destroyed  that  hope 
and  so  for  Wisconsin  he  reserved  these  treasures, 
even  though  the  most  of  them  came  from  rocks 
which  might  have  been  in  Wisconsin  if  the  earth 
had  been  otherwise  partitioned. 

As  an  illustration  and  a  lesson  to  later  genera- 
tions of  palaeontologists,  Hall's  procedure  for  such 
investigations  and  his  method  may  in  this  case  be 
set  down.  He  had  already  arranged  with  Worthen 
for  the  use  of  his  Crinoidea  in  the  Iowa  report. 
They  were  used,  though  a  part  was  reserved  for  a 
future  occasion.  In  Iowa,  he  had  become  ac- 
quainted with  Charles  A.  White  of  Burlington  who 
had  splendid  crinoids,  but  White  had  loaned  them 
to  McChesney  of  the  Illinois  Survey  and  he  was 
unwilling  to  recall  them.  Hall  thereupon  asks 
Governor  Grimes  to  request  Mr.  White  to  loan 
them  to  him.  The  Governor,  full  of  the  milk  of 
palaeontology,  does  so  and  White  again  declines. 
Hall  then  intimates  to  Mr.  White  that  he  would 
like  him  to  come  to  New  York  and  collect  crinoids 
for  him  there.  Mr.  White  did  come  to  New  York 
and  there  uncovered,  with  the  help  of  Mr.  Meek 
and  Christian  Van  Deloo,  the  best  fossil  collector 
Hall  had  ever  trained,  the  finest  of  all  Devonian 
crinoids.  While  Mr.  White  was  thus  engaged  for 
several  seasons,  Hall  had  the  use  of  his  Iowa 
material.  Becoming  acquainted  with  the  collection 


MODES  OF  STUDY  295 

of  G.  M.  Kellogg  of  Keokuk,  Hall  requests  Gov- 
ernor Lowe  to  ask  Mr.  Kellogg  for  the  use  of  it. 
Mr.  Kellogg  responded  favorably  on  condition  that 
he  be  permitted  to  join  White  in  New  York.  Mr. 
Kellogg  came  to  New  York  with  his  treasures. 
Meanwhile  matters  had  gone  wrong  with  McChes- 
ney  in  Illinois  and  he  had  lost  his  position  though 
he  still  kept  possession  of  his  crinoid  collections, 
and  so,  in  his  extremity,  McChesney  was  brought 
to  Albany  and  sent  out  collecting.  Doctor  Edmund 
Otis  Hovey  the  founder  of  Wabash  College  at 
Crawfordsville,  Indiana,  was  then  uncovering  the 
wonderful  crinoid  beds  which  had  been  discovered 
in  1842  and  are  now  known  and  represented  in 
nearly  every  institution  where  geology  is  studied. 
To  Doctor  Hovey,  Hall  sent  Mr.  White  as  his 
ambassador  preferring  his  request  for  permission 
to  study  and  describe  these  new  marvels  and  Dr. 
Hovey  writes  (Oct.  17,  1860) : 

"  Mr.  White  we  found  a  very  pleasant  intelligent  gentle- 
man and  truly  faithful  to  his  employer.  My  son  [Horace 
C.  Hovey]  who  has  acquired  considerable  knowledge  of 
palaeontology  has  had  a  strong  desire  to  describe  some  of 
our  new  species,  but  he  is  not  now  in  a  situation  to  do  it 
and  from  Mr.  White's  representations  of  your  plan  I  sup- 
pose delay  would  be  undesirable  so  I  concluded  to  forego 
the  pleasure  of  indulging  his  wish  hoping  to  secure  to  the 
college  and  to  science  a  greater  good  by  placing  them  in  your 
hands." 


296  JAMES  HALL 

It  was  thus  Hall  laid  the  foundation  for  his 
work.  His  collections  must  be  extensive  in  order 
to  secure  his  conclusions  and  of  "  duplicates  "  he 
refused  to  know  anything,  for  under  the  require- 
ments of  scientific  investigation  there  are  none. 

Geological  Survey  of  New  Jersey 

New  Jersey  began  its  State  Survey  under  Henry 
D.  Rogers  the  year  before  New  York  started  and 
concluded  it  in  1840.  In  1854  a  new  Survey  was 
proposed  and  Professor  Hall  went  out  after  it  by 
an  appeal  to  Governor  Rodman  W.  Price  through 
William  L.  Marcy  who  as  Governor  of  New  York 
had  given  Hall  his  first  appointment  and  who  was 
now  President  Van  Buren's  Secretary  of  State. 
Governor  Price  writes  to  tell  Hall  why  he  could 
not  appoint  him,  but  in  designating  Dr.  William 
Kitchell,  a  citizen  of  New  Jersey,  as  head  of  the 
organization,  he  instructed  him  to  make  Hall  the 
Palaeontologist  of  the  Survey.  By  1855  Hall  is 
receiving  materials  from  Kitchell  and  George  H. 
Cook,  who  was  assistant  geologist  in  charge  of  the 
southern  division  of  the  State,  and  Dr.  Joseph 
Leidy  wrote  to  him  in  March  1856,  "  I  would  like 
to  take  off  your  hands  that  part  of  the  descriptive 
palaeontology  of  New  Jersey  including  the  verte- 
brate remains.  The  pleasure  of  rendering  you  an 
assistance  in  this  respect  I  should  consider  ample 
payment  especially  as  I  am  already  so  deeply  in 


MISSOURI  AND  OHIO  297 

your  debt."  Mr.  Hall  was  obviously  indifferent  to 
this  organization.  Mr.  Cook  was  the  only  redeem- 
ing element  in  its  local  personnel  but  he  alone  could 
not  justify  it;  and  so  by  August  1857  it  had 
expired. 

Other  Geological  Surveys 

In  the  rich  and  ardent  years  of  this  decade  still 
other  States  and  other  representatives  sought  out 
Hall  and  besought  him  or  his  help.  In  1853,  G.  C. 
Swallow  of  Columbia,  Missouri,  who  had  been  put 
in  charge  of  the  new  Geological  Survey  in  that 
State  takes  "  the  liberty  to  address  you  to  ascertain 
whether  your  services  can  be  obtained  in  our 
Geological  Survey.  *  *  *  Your  distinguished 
labors  make  your  connection  with  the  Survey  very 
desirable."  Hall  did  not  want  this  position  but 
he  wanted  to  be  asked;  so  having  been  asked  he 
forgot  to  answer  the  letter  for  a  matter  of  three 
months.  Meanwhile  Swallow  is  gravely  embar- 
rassed and  Hall  is  beset  by  the  other  Missouri  men, 
Dr.  H.  A.  Prout  and  Dr.  Litton  for  endorsements 
to  the  position  offered  to  himself. 

As  early  as  1853,  Dr.  John  S.  Newberry  in  Ohio 
was  urging  a  properly  organized  survey  for  that 
State  and  by  1854  the  project  was  before  the  legis- 
lature as  a  plan  very  like  that  of  the  New  York 
Survey  —  the  State  to  be  divided  into  six  districts 
each  of  which  was  to  have  its  chief  geologist  and 


298  JAMES  HALL 

assistants.  Nothing  came  of  this  movement  for  a 
long  time,  but  in  1856  Hall  writes  to  Newberry 
from  Montreal  expressing  the  desire  to  be  put  in 
charge  of  this  survey.  Counting  their  chickens 
while  still  in  the  egg,,  Newberry  says  he  wishes  to 
be  in  charge  but  that  Hall  shall  have  the  Palae- 
ontology. Early  in  January  1857,  Governor  Chase 
recommended  the  appropriation  and  the  candidates 
lined  up  in  impressive  array  —  W.  W.  Mather, 
Charles  T.  Jackson,  Colonel  Whittlesey,  Orestes  St. 
John,  D.  D.  Owen.  While  the  effective  local  senti- 
ment favored  either  Dr.  Newberry  or  Prof.  E.  B. 
Andrews,  the  outside  influence  as  represented  by 
Hall  and  James  D.  Dana  was  behind  Newberry. 
But  nothing  happened;  Dr.  Newberry  sailed  for 
San  Francisco  to  join,  as  Surgeon  and  Naturalist, 
the  exploring  expedition  through  the  Colorado 
river  under  Lieut.  J.  C.  Ives  and  Ohio  waited  many 
years  for  her  Survey  to  take  form. 

In  1858  Hall  is  asked  by  Joseph  Henry  to  desig- 
nate a  geologist  for  Texas  and  he  writes  to  Gover- 
nor Rumels  recommending  Benjamin  F.  Shumard, 
a  brother  of  G.  C.  Shumard  of  Missouri  and  who 
had  led  the  expedition  to  Oregon  when  Meek  and 
Hayden  were  on  their  way  to  the  Mauvaises 
Terres. 

In  Mississippi,  a  German  named  Ludwig  Haf- 
ner,  endeavoring  to  hide  under  the  cloak  of 
respectability,  took  the  name  of  Lewis  Harper  and 


CALIFORNIA  AND  THE  WEST     299 

had  received  the  appointment  of  State  Geologist. 
He  proved  to  be  incompetent  and  his  immorality 
was  so  gross  that  his  successor  in  office,  E.  W.  Hil- 
gard,  writes  in  May  1858  begging  Hall  for  his 
moral  assistance  and  the  help  of  his  example  in 
rehabilitating  the  science  among  his  people;  he 
should  address  the  Governor,  setting  forth  the 
high  aims  of  geology  and  the  devout  and  sincere 
purpose  of  its  adherents. 

In  California,  Dr.  John  B.  Trask,  Surgeon  in 
the  U.  S.  Army,  had  been  for  three  years,  1853-56, 
the  official  geologist  and  his  reports  were  of  a  high 
value.  Hall's  eye  and  mind  sweeping  the  whole 
field  of  American  geology  just  at  this  time,  felt  that 
Dr.  Trask  could  "  not  do  better  than  to  furnish  me 
with  specimens,  sections,  etc.,  of  the  beds  *  *  * 
giving  me  thus  the  means  of  bringing  the  subject 
more  fully  and  forcibly  to  our  geologists." 

The  surveys  across  the  great  plains  and  moun- 
tains of  the  unknown  Far  West  carried  on  for  the 
chief  purpose  of  establishing  a  route  for  a  railway 
to  the  Pacific  Coast  were  active  during  the  years 
1853-1857.  They  were  known  broadly  as  the 
Pacific  Railroad  Surveys  and  in  nearly  every 
instance  were  accompanied  by  a  naturalist  and 
geologist.  The  reports  of  several  were  beautifully 
executed  books  illuminated  with  costly  colored 
plates  of  birds  and  beasts  with  Indian  and  buffalo- 
dotted  scenery  and  they  were  printed  to  such 


300  JAMES  HALL 

enormous  editions  that  the  country  children  had 
an  unlimited  supply  of  pictures  for  their  scissors. 
But  they  were  of  great  worth  and  Mr.  Hall  made 
contributions  to  several;  to  Lieutenant  Whipple's 
Survey  of  the  35th  parallel  through  New  Mexico, 
Arizona  and  Southern  California;  to  Captain 
Pope's  Survey  of  Texas;  to  Lieutenant  William- 
son's Survey  of  California.  He  examined  for 
President  Hitchcock  the  fossils  brought  in  from 
Captain  Marcy's  Survey  of  the  Red  River  Country 
and  he  reported  on  the  fossils  of  Lieutenant 
Emory's  Mexican  Boundary  Survey.  In  1857  the 
Government  had  in  view  a  more  formal  survey  of 
the  territory  of  New  Mexico  and  Professor  Henry 
wrote  from  the  Smithsonian  Institution  suggesting 
that  Hall  take  charge  of  it;  to  whom  Hall  sends 
this  very  apt  reply: 

ALBANY,  December  26,  1857 
MY  DEAR  PROFESSOR: 

In  reference  to  the  Geol.  Survey  of  New  Mexico  I  must 
first  thank  you  for  your  expressions  of  good  w,ill,  and  the 
confidence  which  you  express.  Could  a  survey  be  properly 
organized  I  should  like  very  well  to  have  the  direction  of 
it,  and  I  believe  I  could  bring  out  results  of  much  import- 
ance both  to  the  science  of  geology  and  for  the  advancement 
of  utilitarian  interests.  I  would  like  also  to  organize  a  corps, 
where  I  could  give  several  younger  men  than  myself  an 
opportunity  of  earning  a  reputation  in  geology  which  they 
might  not  so  readily  attain,  even  if  left  free  to  work  inde- 
pendently. After  all  the  explorations  made  during  these 
past  years,  very  little,  it  seems  to  me,  has  been  done  towards 


NEW  MEXICO  301 

giving  us  a  true  idea  of  the  geology  of  the  great  Rocky 
mountain  region  from  its  northern  to  its  southern  extremity 
on  this  continent,  and  yet  by  a  proper  organization  and  the 
adoption  of  some  system  in  the  mode  of  observation,  and  a 
proper  comparison  of  the  materials  collected,  half  the  labor 
that  has  been  expended  would  give  us  a  most  complete 
knowledge  of  the  structure  of  this  portion  of  the  country 
and  the  nature  of  its  products. 

I  do  not  feel  disposed  to  enter  the  lists  among  the  many 
who  will  doubtless  apply  for  this  appointment,  and  unless 
it  could  be  awarded  to  me  upon  other  grounds  than  the  sup- 
port of  numerous  friends,  both  scientific  and  unscientific,  I 
should  scarcely  feel  disposed  to  contend  for  it.  I  shall  leave 
the  matter  entirely  in  your  hands  at  present,  and  if  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Interior  is  disposed  to  consult  yourself  and  other 
persons  whose  opinion  should  govern  his  action  in  the  matter, 
I  will  then  consider  myself  a  candidate  for  the  appointment. 
I  would  like  such  a  position  for  a  few  years  with  the  proper 
means  at  my  disposal  in  order  to  show  what  are  my  ideas  of 
a  geological  survey  and  the  manner  of  placing  its  results 
before  the  public.  If  the  appropriation  should  be  made  it 
ought  to  be  sufficient  to  secure  several  of  the  best  geologists 
in  the  country  who  are  able  in  their  respective  departments 
of  the  science.  You  are  pleased  to  speak  of  my  claims  to 
the  appointment  from  my  devotion  to  the  science,  reputation, 
etc.  If  devotion  to  the  science,  and  untiring  labor,  with  a 
sacrifice  of  every  personal  comfort  and  convenience  as  well 
as  of  pecuniary  means,  can  entitle  one  to  such  consideration, 
then  I  claim  that  I  have  earned  this  distinction. 

Geological  Survey  of  Canada 

From  the  early  days  of  this  great  Survey,  Mr. 
Hall's  relations  to  its  founder  and  director,  Sir 


302  JAMES  HALL 

William  Logan,  had  been  intimate,  professionally 
and  personally.  In  1843,  Logan  had  begun  the 
career  of  his  survey  by  revealing  the  palaeozoic 
rocks  of  the  Gaspe  Peninsula,  and  in  seeking  light 
upon  them  he  was  in  Albany  in  the  following 
winter.  Telling  De  La  Beche,  the  director  of  the 
British  Survey,  of  his  experience  during  this  first 
year,  Logan  says:  "I  worked  like  a  slave  all 
summer  on  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  living  the 
life  of  a  savage,  inhabiting  an  open  tent,  sleeping 
on  the  beach  in  a  blanket  sack  with  my  feet  to 
the  fire,  seldom  taking  my  clothes  off,  eating  salt 
pork  and  ship's  biscuit,  occasionally  tormented  by 
mosquitoes.  I  dialled  8  the  whole  of  the  cost,  sur- 
veyed and  counted  my  paces  from  morning  to  night 
for  three  months.  *  *  *  I  have  just  returned 
from  a  visit  to  Albany  where  I  have  been  studying 
the  New  York  geological  collection.  *  *  *  The 
condition  of  the  rocks  of  New  York  and  the  cer- 
tainty with  which  their  order  of  superposition  has 
been  determined,  makes  that  region  the  key  to  the 
geology  of  a  large  portion  of  the  North  American 
continent."  9 

These  two  men  were  concerned  with  problems  so 
intimate  and,  though  of  different  inclinations  in 


*  Sir  William  records  that  he  lost  his  dial-compass  somewhere 
near  his  camp  at  Little  Gaspe  on  the  Forillon  peninsula,  in  1843. 
This  compass  was  ploughed  up  by  a  farmer's  boy  in  1915. 

*B.  J.  Harrington:     Life  of  Sir  William  Logan,  1883. 


SIR  WILLIAM  LOGAN  IN  GASPE    303 

this  science,  were  so  cast  into  supplementary  parts 
of  one  great  geological  province  that  their  rela- 
tions were  continuously  and  jointly  directed  to  the 
same  end.  It  should  be  recorded  without  fail  or 
want  of  emphasis  that  these  personal  relations 
between  Sir  William  and  Professor  Hall  were 
openly  harmonious  throughout  Logan's  leadership 
of  the  Survey  which  he  resigned  in  1869. 

When  the  great  Canadian  geologist  lifted  the 
curtain  which  veiled  the  panorama  of  the  rocks  in 
Gaspe,10  he  brought  to  light  a  new  world  of  palae- 
ozoic life,  and  of  those  days  of  the  early  '40s  before 
Hall  had  issued  his  Palaeontology  I,  and  Sir  Wil- 
liam came  to  him  for  aid,  he  wrote  at  a  later  year 
reminiscently: 

"  The  first  volume  of  New  York  was  not  then  published 
but  by  your  kindness  it  was  given  to  me  in  advance  of  pub- 
lication and  I  was  enabled  to  complete  a  tabular  list  compre- 
hending every  fossil  known  from  these  rocks.  Many  of 
these  were  not  specifically  named  but  I  was  permitted  to 
make  copies  of  such  drawings  as  you  had.  Without  this 
I  should  have  been  under  the  necessity  of  establishing  by 
very  laborious  comparison  a  set  of  palaeontology  rules  for 
myself." 


10  In  the  beautiful  village  of  Perce,  fronting  the  Gulf  of  St.  Law- 
rence, in  the  heart  of  the  region  where  Logan  began  his  work, 
stands  a  picturesque  monument  to  his  memory  and  his  powers  —  a 
bronze  portrait  tablet  attached  to  an  upstanding  rock  dome  and  em- 
braced by  hillside  greensward;  all  together  constituting  the  "Logan 
Park." 


304  JAMES  HALL 

Not  until  Hall  had  issued  his  Palaeontology  III 
could  the  Gaspe  discoveries  be  set  forth  with  their 
full  value  because  of  their  late  geological  age,  nor 
were  they  until  Logan  prepared  his  most  important 
and  enduring  work,  the  "  Geology  of  Canada " 
(1863),  a  book  which  is  still  the  guide  to  the 
geology  of  the  eastern  Dominion. 

Often  Hall  was  called  to  Montreal  in  conference 
and  by  1854  he  was  charged  with  the  preparation 
of  the  2nd  Decade  (as  Logan  styled  the  palae- 
ontological  monographs  of  his  Survey)  out  of 
which  he  developed  the  beautiful  study  of  the 
Graptolites  which  Sir  William  had  discovered  in 
the  slates  of  Point  Levis;  the  most  elaborate  in- 
vestigation of  this  singular  and  important  group  of 
hydrozoan  corals  which  had  yet  been  undertaken. 
Mr.  Hall  could  not  release  this  monograph  for 
publication  for  eleven  years  (1865)  but  these  years 
helped  to  maintain  intimate  relations  with  Logan.11 

Hall  loved  his  associations  with  Logan;  he  and 
his  family  loved  the  great  Catholic  city  of  Montreal 
and  Logan  was  constantly  pleading  with  Hall  to 
give  up  New  York  and  take  up  with  him  in  Canada 
whose  palaeontology  was  sparkling  with  great 

11  In  the  preface  to  the  Geology  of  Canada  (1863)  Logan  says: 
"  In  addition  to  the  general  benefits  obtained  from  the  investigations 
of  Professor  Hall  in  his  own  division  of  the  State  of  New  York 
we  have  to  express  obligation  to  him  for  the  assistance  rendered  to 
Mr.  Murray  in  1856  in  tracing  out  boundaries  of  the  Upper  Devonian 
rocks  in  a  part  of  the  western  peninsula  [Ontario]." 


LOGAN  AND  HALL  305 

promise.  The  presence  and  influence  of  T.  Sterry 
Hunt,  the  brilliant  chemist  of  the  Survey,  a  fellow 
Catholic,  almost  persuaded  him.  And  in  after 
years  Hall  was  wont  to  lament,  whenever  he  had 
tread  on  some  nettle  alongside  his  path  in  New 
York,  that  he  had  not  given  heed  to  the  voice  of 
Sir  William,  which  in  1854  gave  him  a  positive  call 
to  come.12 

The  two  men  were  much  alike;  both  in  physical 
appearance  and  in  experience  as  pioneers  in  Palae- 
osoica.  Logan,  the  elder  by  thirteen  years,  was  the 
more  philosophical  thinker,  the  more  independent 
and  imperturbable  executive;  and  as  such  he 
checked  and  counterpoised  Hall's  sanguine  pur- 

12  On  the  occasion  of  a  Logan  commemorative  event  at  the  Logan 
Club  in  Ottawa  in  1893,  Hall  wrote  to  the  Secretary,  MX.  William 
Mclnnes : 

"  It  was  a  great  pleasure  to  me  to  have  the  acquaintance  and 
friendship  of  the  first  director  of  the  Geological  Survey  through 
a  period  of  many  years,  and  his  annual'  visits  to  me  in  Albany,  from 
the  very  beginning  of  his  work,  were  looked  forward  to  with 
pleasant  anticipations,  which  were  always-  more  than  fulfilled  in  the 
reality.  Working  in-  different  directions  in  the  science,  he  devoted 
to  physical  and  stratigraphical  geology,  and  myself  to  palaeontology, 
rendered  our  discussions  both  pleasant  and  profitable  to  each,  and 
those  visits  were  always  red-letter  days  in  my  calendar.  After- 
ward in  association  with  Sir  William  Logan  and  the  work  of  the 
Survey  in  Canada,  I  became  more  intimately  acquainted  with  the 
plans  and  purposes  of  the  Survey  and  learned  to  admire  the  wisdom 
and  discretion  of  its  director.  My  relations  wkh  Sir  William  and 
the  staff  during  the  little  time  I  was  associated  with  the  work  were 
of  the  most  cordial  and  friendly  character  and  it  has  been  the  great 
regret  of  my  life  that  I  did  not  join-  the  Survey  when  I  had  an 
opportunity  of  doing  so  in  1854." 
20 


306  JAMES  HALL 

poses  and  unquestionably  directed  his  activities. 
As  Hall  would  not  desert  New  York,  Elkanah  Bill- 
ings was  made  palaeontologist  of  the  Canadian 
Survey  in  1856,  and  thereafter  Hall's  relations  to 
it  became  of  necessity  more  formal.  Mr.  Billings, 
a  barrister  in  practise  at  Bytown  (Ottawa),  had 
become  so  enamored  of  natural  history  that  after 
he  had  been  well  established  in  the  practice  of  the 
law,  he  laid  aside  his  profession  for  the  pursuit  of 
science.  Mr.  Billings  had  already  acquired  some 
experience  as  an  editor  and  when  he  formally  bade 
adieu  to  his  legal  practise  he  established  the  Cana- 
dian Naturalist  which  still  remains  after  sixty 
years  the  leading  periodical  of  its  kind  in  the 
Dominion.  Mr.  Billings's  repute  for  investigations 
in  palaeontology  was  even  then  established  and  as 
Palaeontologist  of  the  Survey,  a  position  which  he 
filled  for  twenty  years,  he  accomplished  brilliant 
work.  His  love  of  the  science,  fortified  by  his 
training  in  acute  analysis  and  cautious  conclusion, 
made  his  work  of  first  rank  and  in  the  writer's 
judgment  its  quality  as  especially  exemplified  in 
some  of  his  more  elaborate  researches  has  not  been 
surpassed  in  refinement  in  the  field  of  palaeozoic 
palaeontology:  He  was  gentle,  generous,  just  and 
loyal.  Just  before  he  entered  upon  his  official 
duties  he  wrote  to  Hall  (March  31,  1856) : 

"  Every  student  of  American  Palaeontology  owes  you  a 
debt  that  can  not  be  easily  paid.     No  one  feels  this  more 


THE  CANADIAN  SURVEY          307 

than  myself.  How  happy  we  should  all  be  here  were  you 
to  honour  us  with  a  visit  *  *  *  I  received  a  letter  from 
Sir  W.  E.  Logan  on  Saturday  night.  I  sincerely  hope  his 
bill  may  pass  and  had  written  something  in  its  favor  the 
day  before  in  the  Ottawa  Citizen,  How  much  I  should  like 
to  be  attached  to  the  Survey." 

And  for  these  first  years  he  is  in  close  consulta- 
tion with  Hall  over  the  wonderful  things  Murray 
had  brought  in  from  the  Island  of  Anticosti  and 
Logan's  great  collections  from  Gaspe,  and  is  secur- 
ing publication  of  Hall's  papers  in  the  Canadian 
Naturalist  and  the  Canadian  Journal.  Mr.  Hall 
had  exerted  no  small  influence  in  widening  and 
establishing  the  activities  of  the  Canadian  Survey 
by  appearing  at  the  request  of  John  Langton, 
M.  P.,  before  a  committee  of  the  Parliament  at 
Quebec  in  1854  when  the  necessity  of  a  palae- 
ontologist for  the  organization  was  urgently 
pressed.  Hall  and  Billings  were  brothers-in-arms 
to  the  end  of  the  present  chapter ;  the  shooting  did 
not  begin  till  later. 

In  February,  1854  Hall  received  this  extraor- 
dinary telegram: 

"  Where  do  you  place  the  division  between  the  Upper 
Silurian  and  Devonian  among  your  New  York  rocks? 

W.  E.  LOGAN  " 

The  reply  was  not  sent  by  wire;  and  there  was 
no  great  hurry  about  it  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the 
answer  has  been  under  discussion  for  a  half  cen- 


308  JAMES  HALL 

tury  since  and  there  doubtless  still  remains  much 
to  be  said  regarding  it.  Parts  of  Hall's  long 
answer  however  are  of  much  historic  interest  to 
students  of  geology.  He  said  (February  10, 
1854) : 
W.  E.  Logan  Esq. 

DEAR  SIR    *     *    * 

In  the  first  place  I  do  not  believe  in  any  marked  lines 
dividing  Silurian  and  Devonian  or  the  so-called  Devonian 
and  Carboniferous  systems  in  the  United  States.  If  how- 
ever we  are  to  have  a  line  of  separation  between  Silurian 
and  Devonian  we  must  place  it  on  one  side  or  the  other 
of  the  Oriskany  sandstone,  and  I  fear  that  either  horn  of 
this  dilemma  may  be  an  uncomfortable  one. 

Have  you  read  my  article  on  the  parallelism  of  the  Ameri- 
can and  European  Palaeozoic  formations,  published  in  Fos- 
ter and  Whitney's  Report?  If  you  have  not  a  copy  I  will 
send  you  one.  The  paper  is  rather  a  rejoinder  to  what  has 
appeared  on  the  other  side  of  the  water. 

Perhaps  a  diagram  with  some  notes  may  enable  you  to 
understand  better  the  state  of  our  knowledge  in  New  York. 

Corniferous  limestone  "^ 

Onondaga  limestone      W  Upper  Helderberg  group 

Schoharie  grit  J 

Cauda  galli  grit 

Oriskany  sandstone 

Encrinal  limestone 


Upper  Pentamerus  limestone 
Delthyris  shaly  limestone 
Pentamerus  limestone 
Tentaculite  or  water  limestone 
Onondaga  salt  group 


Lower  Helderberg  group 


HALL  TO  LOGAN  309 

The  Oriskany  graduates  into  the  Cauda  galli  grit  which 
is  destitute  of  fossils  and  as  far  as  it  extends  is  a  non-fos- 
siliferous  belt  between  upper  and  lower  Helderberg  Groups. 

The  Oriskany  sandstone  contains  many  peculiar  fossils, 
but  a  careful  comparison  shows  them  to  be  as  nearly  related 
to  the  lower  as  the  upper  forms.  In  some  places  the  upper 
member  of  the  Lower  Helderberg  graduates  into  the  Oris- 
kany which  is  a  chert  or  hornstone  deposit  filled  with  fossils. 

In  New  York  the  physical  line  of  separation  between 
Lower  Helderberg  and  Oriskany  sandstone  is  very  weak 
and  between  Oriskany  and  Upper  Helderberg  very  strong  — 
elsewhere  the  reverse  may  be  true. 

The  upward  tendency  of  the  Leptaenoid  type  is  the 
strongest  argument  for  placing  Or(iskany  in  the  Devonian 
while  I  am  compelled  by  other  forms  to  see  its  close  relation 
with  the  rocks  below. 

Our  great  objection  to  placing  the  Oriskany  in  parallelism 
with  the  Devonian  of  Europe  is  that  below  it  we  have  almost 
no  representatives  of  the  Ludlow  forms  of  Murchison,  while 
in  the  Schoharie  grit  we  have  numerous  forms  of  that  kind, 
and  /  am  quite  positive  that  so  long  as  the  Ludlow  forma- 
tions remain  included  in  the  Silurian  we  can  never  draw 
any  line  or  separation  between  Silurian  and  Devonian  that 
will  meet  the  requirements  of  the  European  systematizers. 

This  reply  perhaps  you  may  think  no  very  definite  answer 
to  your  inquiry,  but,  I  could  not  say  more  definitely  in  the 
present  state  of  our  knowledge. 

I  have  underscored  some  lines  in  the  foregoing 
where  still  a  vital  truth  lies  unconcealed. 

During  these  years  the  nomenclature  of  the 
rocks  was  the  subject  of  many  discussions  which 
were  precipitated  by  the  propositions  of  James  D. 


310  JAMES  HALL 

Dana,  who  was  not  only  concerned  for  his  Yale 
lectures  but  was  preparing  his  presidential  address 
for  the  American  Association  meeting  at  Provi- 
dence and  at  the  same  time  getting  in  readiness  for 
his  "  Text-book  "  which  was  to  come  "  I  suppose 
within  two  years,"  though  it  did  not  come  till  after 
many. 

I  give  here  extracts  from  a  very  long  letter  from 
Hall  to  Dana  on  this  theme  of  nomenclature,  a  dis- 
quisition which  covers  ten  foolscap  pages.  It  was 
written  in  reply  to  Dana's  suggestion  that  the 
f  ormational  divisions  should  be  based  on  climacteric 
developments  of  organic  life  and  the  subordinate 
divisions  on  localized  or  subsidiary  palaeontology. 
It  will  interest  students  of  our  science  as  an  illus- 
tration of  the  extremely  conservative  attitude  taken 
by  Hall  even  to  this  late  date  (1855)  in  the  matter 
of  coordination  of  the  American  old-rocks  with  the 
European  and  his  complete  loyalty  to  the  standards 
which  the  New  York  men  had  so  laboriously  set 
up;  and  I  add  the  comment  that  more  of  this  con- 
servatism and  firm  regard  for  the  New  York 
standards  would  have  carried  American  science 
into  more  rational  procedures  and  along  a  simpler 
path  in  the  interpretation  of  our  geological  history. 
Hall  is  writing  from  Montreal,  where  he  is  now 
spending  much  time  in  his  work  for  the  Geological 
Survey  of  Canada. 


HALL  TO  DANA  311 

MONTREAL,  March  5,  1855 

[66  years  ago] 
FRIEND  DANA  : 

[The  letter  begins  with  a  reference  to  his  Iowa  obliga- 
tions and  to  the  action  he  is  bringing  through  counsel  for 
the  reinstatement  of  his  New  York  work  which  he  has  been 
carrying  along  at  his  own  expense.  The  italics  here  used  are 
Hall's.] 

I  will  endeavor  to  reply  to  some  points  in  your  letter 
in  reference  to  nomendature.  In  regard  to  the  Devonian, 
I  will  ask,  without  now  refusing  to  sustain  it,  why  will  you 
sustain  a  system  founded  in  error  [an  obviously  correct 
statemen-t  so  far  as  this  system  is  based  on  Sedgwick  and 
Murchison's  original  account]  merely  in  the  first  place,  it 
appears  to  me,  for  the  sake  of  system-making  [or  as  Pro- 
fessor Schuchert  says,  to  get  ahead  of  the  New  York  men]. 
I  assure  you  it  must  turn  out  that  the  rocks  included  in  the 
Devonian  of  England,  with  the  small  exception  of  the  sand- 
stones called  "  Old  Red  "  in  the  Silurian  System  will  prove 
of  the  same  age  as  the  Ludlow  Rocks  of  Murchison.  And 
more  than  this,  I  believe  it  is  quite  impossible  for  these 
Ludlow  Rocks,  jn  their  Modiola-like  forms,  Grammysia 
and  Nucula  as  well  as  other  fossils,  to  be  represented  on  this 
continent  except  in  the  Hamilton  and  Chemung  rocks  of 
New  York;  and  these  we  are  placing  in  the  Devonian  Sys- 
tem. Shall  we  force  the  name  of  Devonian  System  upon 
a  set  of  rocks  here  which  are  so  closely  simulated  by  the 
Ludlow  Rocks  of  England?  Why  do  we  not  use  the  term 
Palaeozoic  for  the  whole  series,  and,  leaving  out  systems, 
speak  of  the  periods,  epochs,  groups  or  rocks  as  we  please, 
recognizing  the  true  and  well  determined  order  in  the 
U.  States?  [This  rational  attitude  was  the  direct  inherit- 
ance from  the  New  York  results  and  geologists  today  so 
gladly  recognize  its  competency  that  they  would,  in  many 


312  JAMES  HALL 

cases  throw  aside  the  system  divisions  in  the  older  rocks 
as  an  uncomfortable  and  chafing  harness  were  they  not  a 
necessary  convenience  of  expression].  I  do  not  know  how 
far  your  view  of  "  strongly-marked  centres "  for  geologic 
periods  will  be  applicable.  If  you  take  the  Lower  Silurian, 
for  example,  as  now  recognized,  you  have  the  Trenton  period 
well  marked  by  fossils.  If  on  the  other  hand  you  take  the 
centre  of  the  Upper  Silurian  System  you  have  the  Onondaga 
Salt  Group  almost  without  fossils. 

/  prefer  to  make  the  limits  where  both  physical  and  zoo- 
logical characters  mark  the  horizon  for  I  am  satisfied  that 
it  is  the  natural  true  view  of  the  matter;  and  if  we  neglect 
the  physical  features  in  pursuit  wholly  of  the  zoological  or 
vice  versa,  we  shall  fail.  Physical  influences  operating  from 
near  or  remote  .points  have  affected  the  successive  faunae 
of  the  globe  through  all  time  and  I  hold  that  we  must  con- 
sider the  phenomena  of  both  before  we  shall  arrive  at  a 
perfect  solution  of  the  difficulties  that  beset  geology.  Zoo- 
logical progress  can  not  be  considered  separately  from  phy- 
sical revolutions  for  upon  physical  revolutions  have  depended 
zoological  changes  and  zoological  progress. 

If  the  line  now  recognized  in  this  country  as  the  base  of 
the  Devonian  be  retained  then  I  see  nothing  to  mark  the 
advent  of  what  is  termed  Carboniferous,  a  very  heterogeneous 
assemblage  of  materials  as  now  recognized.  I  doubt  the 
propriety  or  authority  for  carrying  reptiles  below  the  Coal 
measures  —  the  Telerpeton  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding ; 
for  Mr.  Ramsay  last  year  discovered  that  some  of  the 
so-called  Old  Red  Sandstone  of  Scotland  is  New  Red  and 
I  have  long  suspected,  as  have  others,  that  much  of  the 
poetry  of  the  Old  Red  was  destined  to  be  disturbed  by  facts. 

I  would  say  that  the  commencement  of  the  Coal  period 
was  essentially  the  beginning,  for  our  continent,  of  dryland 
plants  and  also  for  air  breathing  animals,  but  why  should 


HALL  TO  DANA  313 

we  adrift  such  an  assemblage  of  marine  strata  as  lie  below 
this  into  the  same  System?  There  may  be  some  convenience 
in  making  the  four  great  divisions  founded  on  the  four 
grand  classes  of  animals,  as  you  propose;  Molluscans  for 
I  Silurian;  Fishes  for  II  Devonian;  Saurians  for  III  Car- 
boniferous and  Jurassic,  and  Mammalia  for  IV  Tertiary. 
We  have  birds  as  well  in  the  Jurassic  and  no  Saurians  in 
the  Lower  Carboniferous  while  Silurian,  Devonian  and 
Lower  Carboniferous  are  more  intimately  united  both  physi- 
cally and  zoologically  than,  by  any  possibility  can  be  the 
Carboniferous  and  Jurassic. 

In  relation  to  Cambrian,  the  limits  claimed  by  Sedgwick 
include  all  the  large  cephalopods  of  the  Orthoceratite  family. 
If  you  admit  that  there  are  species  and  genera  peculiar  to 
the  Cambrian,  or  admit  it  at  all,  it  must  be  admitted  in  full 
and  it  is  as  fully  entitled  to  rank  as  a  System  as  the  Silurian. 
Murchison  in  the  outset  committed  a  gross  blunder  in 
mingling  (for  nature  had  not  done  it  for  him)  the  Lower 
Silurian  (Cambrian)  with  Upper  Silurian  forms  and,  by 
thus  disguising  or  misrepresenting  Nature,  closed  the  eyes 
of  observers  to  the  very  strong  line  of  demarcation  between 
the  Lower  Silurian  and  the  Upper,  a  line  always  to  be  recog- 
nized the  world  over  and  far  more  definite  than  any  ever 
proposed  between  the  Silurian  and  Devonian  and  between 
the  Devonian  and  Carboniferous.  If  Fishes  are  to  charac- 
terize the  Devonian  then  you  should  unite  with  that  System 
the  Carboniferous  limestones  which  contain  abundance  of 
fishes  and  no  Saurians. 

I  agree  precisely  with  your  view  in  relation  to  the  Pots- 
dam and  Calciferous.  I  have  some  doubt  about  uniting 
Chazy,  Birdseye,  Black  River  and  Trenton  in  one  period, 
and  yet  I  believe  it  is  inevitable,  though  in  many  places  the 
Chazy  seems  more  intimately  connected  with  the  Calciferous. 
The  investigations  of  the  fossils  of  Canada  will  determine 


314  JAMES  HALL 

that  point.  The  Utica  slate  and  Hudson  River  are  one  and 
should  be  the 

H  d        R'       1  Shales  and  sandstones  and  Salmon  River; 
Vanuxem 

[  Frankfort  slate 
Fauna  __  .        _  . 

j  Utica  slate 

Again  through  the  organic  forms,  the  Hudson  River  is 
closely  allied  to  the  Trenton  and  other  limestones  and  yet 
the  line  of  separation  is  easily  traced  to  the  Mississippi  and 
beyond  it.  A  considerable  number  of  species  characterize 
the  Blue  limestone  of  the  west,  that  never  occur  in  the 
Trenton  limestones  below,  or  in  the  Hudson  River  Group 
at  the  east,  though  the  physical  conditions  of  the  two  groups 
are  more  similar  at  the  west  than  they  are  in  the  east. 

We  may  substitute  Shawangunk  for  Oneida.  It  is  a  great 
pity  that  the  few  feet  of  conglomerate  there  shown  shall  be 
cited  while  the  magnificent  exhibition  in  the  Shawangunk  is 
subordinate.  The  Shawangunk  and  Blue  or  Kittatinny 
mountain  to  the  S.  W.  and  in  the  same  range  northeast  to 
Canada  mark  the  great  development  of  this  rock. 

Your  views  in  regard  to  the  Niagara  period  and  subordi- 
nate epochs  I  consider  just.  The  Onondaga  Salt  Group  is 
a  distinct  period.  The  Lower  Helderberg  does  not  always 
present  the  well  defined  epochs  of  the  Niagara  period.  They 
correspond  more  nearly  to  the  subdivisions  of  the  Clinton 
Group,  though  more  constant,  and  perhaps  they  should  be 
considered  as  epochs,  subordinate  as  I  have  treated  them 
in  my  third  volume,  to  the  Lower  Helderberg,  but  recog- 
nizing them  by  their  fossils  when  possible. 

Epoch  Subepoch 

?      Corniferous 


The  Upper  Helderberg  f  '       ~        , 

FV,    .  5J ?      Onondaga 

Period  I  o  i    i      • 

LSchohane  grit 


HALL  TO  DANA  315 

The  Onondaga  and  Corniferous  are  too  often  blended  to 
render  the  distinction  valuable  over  large  areas,  at  least  that 
has  been  my  experience.  I  would  agree  that  the  Hamilton 
period  should  include  Marcellus  shale  as  one  epoch,  Hamil- 
ton as  second  (Tully  limestone  ?),  Genesee  slate  third. 

Chemung  period  including  Portage  and  Chemung  epochs 
—  with  several  subepochs. 

The  Catskill  period  —  with  subdivisions  yet  to  be  made. 
*  *  * 

In  reference  to  the  Taconic  System  generally  I  would  call 
your  attention  to  my  remarks  at  New  Haven  in  1855  an(i  to 
a  more  full  paper  at  the  meeting  of  Association  in  New 
York  in  1856  for  the  first  exposition  and  refutation  of  the 
existence  of  a  Taconic  System.  You  may  recollect  also 
that  I  sent  a  review  to  the  Journal  which  was  returned  to 
me  as  being  too  spicy  or  too  personal.  I  have  it  yet  and 
as  the  Taconic  System  now  and  then  shows  a  sign  of  life  I 
may  as  well  claim  that  I  have  the  honor  (  ?)  of  first  refuting 
it  by  a  series  of  carefully  made  sections  across  the  Green 
mountain  range,  showing  in  fact  all  that  has  since  been 
shown  of  the  age  of  these  altered  limestones,  slates  and 
other  rocks. 

I  call  your  attention  to  this  as  it  may  be  necessary  to 
reclaim  this  at  some  future  time,  since  the  Taconic  System 
is  likely  again  to  appear,  on  paper,  in  full  force  in  Emmons's 
Report  on  N.  Carolina. 

I  must  conclude  in  haste 

I  am  yours  truly, 

JAMES    HALL 

And  to  enliven  this  sober  chapter,  this  seems  to  be  the 
place  to  tell  the  story  of  the  fatal  $400  which  Hall  had 
borrowed  from  Emmons  while  hard  pressed  at  the  Rens- 
selaer  School.  I  had  it  from  Ebenezer  Emmons,  Jr.  The 


316  JAMES  HALL 

note  had  been  renewed  again  and  again  and  still  in  these 
bitter  Taconic  years  remained  unpaid.  Emmons  finally 
determined  to  sue  it.  Hall  alarmed  and  annoyed  repaired 
to  Emmons's  house  and  rang  the  door  bell  which  was 
answered  by  Ebenezer.  "  I  want  to  see  your  father,  Eb., 
about  that  note  of  mine  ".  "  Father  says  he  won't  see  you, 
Hall.  You  have  treated  him  too  badly  about  his  Taconic 
System  ".  "  Eb.,  I  know  your  father  has  some  right  to 
what  he  claims  but  you  tell  him  I'll  never  admit  it  if  he 
sues  that  note !  ". 


THE  PERIOD  OF  VOLUME  III— 1853-1860— Continued 


Hall's  zenith  —  President  of  the  American  Association  for 
the  Advancement  of  Science  —  Albany  meeting,  1856  — 
Dedication  of  Geological  Hall  and  Dudley  Observatory 

—  Distinguished  occasion  —  Public  tributes  to  Hall  and 
his  work  —  Montreal  meeting,   1857  —  Death  of  Pro- 
fessor  J.   W.   Bailey  —  Hall's   impressive   presidential 
address  on  mountain  making  —  Effect  on  his  hearers  — 
Joseph  Henry's  .inquiry  and  Hall's  reply  —  Letter  to 
Sterry    Hunt  —  Modern   views    of    Hall's    theories  — 
James  Geikie's  analysis  —  E.  Haug's  Loi  de  James  Hall 

—  Publication    of    Palaeontology    III  —  Its    content, 
quality  and  manner  of  making  —  A  trumph  of  research 

—  The  Baltimore  meeting  of  the  American  Association 
and    the    Permian    tempest  —  Friends    and    admirers ; 
honors  and  awards. 

TO   every   devoted    servant   of    Science   there 
comes  a  zenithal  day  when  in  the  midst  of 
his  labors,  he  is  halted  to  receive  the  acclaim 
of  his  fellows.    For  Professor  Hall  this  event  came 
with  the  meeting  of  the  American  Association  for 
the  Advancement  of  Science  in  Albany  in  1856.    It 
was   no   ordinary   occasion;   indeed,   it   proved  a 
momentous  event  for  science  in  New  York;  and  it 
is  not  to  be  forgotten  among  the  influential  episodes 
in  the  history  of  that  great  society. 
[317] 


318  JAMES  HALL 

At  the  Providence  meeting  of  the  year  before, 
where  Dana  had  given  his  presidential  address,1 
Hall  was  chosen  his  successor  in  office,  and  through 
the  invitation  of  the  citizens  of  Albany  presented 
in  person  at  Providence  by  Dr.  James  H.  Armsby, 
the  Association  had  agreed  upon  Hall's  home  town 
as  the  place  of  its  meeting  during  his  presidency. 

Since  the  Albany  meeting  of  1851,  which  had 
been  brought  on  to  help  forward  the  Albany  Uni- 
versity, interest  in  science  at  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment had  shown  itself  in  various  ways.  With  the 
support  of  the  Governor  of  the  State,  Myron  H. 
Clark,  provision  had  been  made  for  remaking  the 
"  Old  State  Hall "  on  State  street  into  a  building 
suitable  for  the  growing  collections  of  the  "  State 
Cabinet  "  and  the  offices  of  the  curator,  with  an 
auditorium  for  public  lectures.  This  building  was 
to  be  known  as  the  "  Geological  Hall."  It  was  now 
hurried  to  its  completion,  its  auditorium  was  to  be 
the  general  meeting  place  of  the  Association  and 
its  public  dedication  to  scientific  purposes  was  set 

1  From  Dana  to  Hall :  December  26,  1854 

"I  think  it  probable  that  if  I  deliver  any  address  at  the  next 
[Providence]  meeting  of  the  Association,  which  is  quite  doubtful, 
my  subject  will  be :  The  Progress  of  Geology  Through  American 
Observations.  I  should  endeavor  to  refer  impartially  steps  of  prog- 
ress to  those  who  made  them.  I  shall  ask  your  opinion  of  what  I 
may  write.  Geology  is  almost  the  only  science  in  which  progress  has 
been  made  in  the  country  except  some  departments  of  zoology. 
Chemistry  has  done  almost  nothing  independent  of  analyses  of 
minerals;  physics  not  much  of  late  years." 


JAMES  HALL 
President,  American  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science 

1856 
(Lithograph  by  Swinton"* 


DUDLEY  OBSERVATORY  319 

for  the  occasion  of  this  assembly.  The  Dudley 
Observatory,  the  finest  flower  of  the  extinguished 
University,  then  crowning  with  unfinished  build- 
ings the  crest  of  the  hill  near  the  home  of  the 
Patroon,  the  Van  Rensselaer  Manor,  was  also  to 
be  dedicated  with  great  circumstance  on  the  same 
occasion.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  such  a  com- 
bination of  distinguished  events  brought  together 
a  great  body  of  devotees  in  all  walks  of  science 
and  to  that  day  no  such  notable  scientific  assem- 
blage had  gathered  on  American  soil.  The  "  local 
committee,"  on  whom  responsibilities  for  enter- 
tainment on  this  occasion  devolved,  were  compe- 
tent to  their  task:  Gerrit  Y.  Lansing,  Chancellor 
of  the  University,  was  the  chairman,  and  of  its 
members  were  Governor  Clark,  John  V.  L.  Pruyn, 
a  future  Chancellor,  Thurlow  Weed,  Amos  Dean, 
Thomas  W.  Olcott,  Ezra  P.  Prentice,  Stephen  Van 
Rensselaer,  Dr.  Thomas  Hun,  Gideon  Hawley, 
Justice  Amasa  J.  Parker  —  names  still  distin- 
guished after  more  than  a  half  century.  These 
men  went  far.  They  sent  out  invitations  to  a 
large  number  of  European  men  of  science  and 
persuaded  the  owners  of  ocean  stemers,  among 
them  Edward  Cunard  of  the  Cunard  Line,  and 
directors  of  several  other  steamship  companies 
to  offer  free  transportation  to  these  foreign 
guests.  Special  provision  was  made  for  the  visit 
of  Liebig,  the  great  chemist,  though  he  failed  to 


320  JAMES  HALL 

come.  They  went  further;  their  emissaries  went 
to  Europe  to  present  in  person  these  invitations. 
Elaborate  receptions  were  planned  and  given  to 
the  members  and  visitors  by  the  Patroon  Mr.  Van 
Rensselaer,  the  stately  Mr.  Pruyn,  Mrs.  Blandina 
Dudley  the  founder  of  the  Observatory,  and 
several  others.  A  brilliant  marquee  carrying  the 
legends  of  all  the  sciences  was  erected  in  the  park 
in  front  of  the  Albany  Academy,  the  place  of 
Joseph  Henry's  early  discoveries,  and  under  it  on 
a  glowing  August  afternoon,  dispersed  among  the 
shades  of  the  neighboring  elms,  gathered  the 
scientific  throng  for  these  dedicatory  exercises. 

On  the  raised  seats  were  the  Governor  of  the 
State,  Myron  H.  Clark,  with  Millard  Fillmore  and 
former  Governor  Hunt;  with  Henry,  Silliman, 
Bache,  Mitchell,  Agassiz  and  Hall;  Sir  William 
Logan  and  President  Hitchcock;  Chancellor  Wai- 
worth  and  Bishop  Potter;  and  in  a  scholarly  and 
dignified  address  of  two  hours'  duration,  Edward 
Everett,  former  Governor  of  Massachusetts,  and 
then  United  States  Senator,  consecrated  the  new 
Observatory. 

Under  the  same  canvas,  the  dedication  of  the 
Geological  Hall  preceded  this  function  and  it  was 
the  occasion  of  unstinted  tributes  from  Mr.  Hall's 
most  intimate  and  eminent  associates.  No  formal 
address  was  made  but  one  after  another  poured  a 
libation  to  his  successful  work.  Professor  Agassiz 


TRIBUTES  TO  HALL  321 

said,  speaking  first :  "  The  Geological  Survey  of 
New  York  has  given  a  new  nomenclature  to  sci- 
ence. Hereafter  no  geologist  can  venture  to  bring 
his  theories  before  the  world  unless  he  first  consult 
its  beautiful  volumes.  When  European  men  of 
science  come  to  this  country  their  first  question  is : 
"Which  way  is  Albany?"  President  Edward 
Hitchcock  of  Amherst,  in  the  course  of  his  lauda- 
tory remarks,  recalled  the  fact  "  that  the  first  in- 
stance of  a  Geological  Survey  in  this  State  or  in 
the  Union  was  set  on  foot  by  that  patriotic  and 
noble  citizen  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer,  nearly  fifty 
years  ago."  Sir  William  Logan  declared  that  the 
Geological  Survey  of  New  York  had  stimulated 
Canada  to  undertake  a  similar  service.  "  When  I 
came  from  England  "  he  said,  I  was  one  of  those 
who  asked:  '  Which  is  the  way  for  Albany?  ',  and 
I  took  up  the  work  where  New  York  left  it  at  its 
boundaries  and  carried  it  forward."  He  was  fol- 
lowed by  the  venerable  Professors  Silliman  and 
Chester  Dewey ;  and  to  all  this  flood  of  tribute  Hall 
was  not  permitted  to  respond. 

Throughout  the  entire  week  of  the  sessions  of 
the  Association,  Professor  Hall  was  its  central 
figure,  conspicuous  by  the  necessity  of  his  office. 
And  when  they  came  to  go,  Dr.  Steiner  of  Balti- 
more, in  moving  adjournment,  declared  that  when 
some  future  palaeontologist  should  find  him  turned 

to  adipocere  he  would  behold  graven  on  his  heart 
21 


322 


JAMES  HALL 


KEY  TO  PLATE 

2  Prof.  Joseph  Henry,   Secretary,  Smithsonian  Institution 

3  Prof.  Benjamin  Silliman,  Yale  University 

4  Dr.  Thomas  Hun,  Albany 

5  Rev.  Dr.  Eben  Halley,  Albany 

6  President  Edward  Hitchcock,  Amherst 

7  William  B.  Rogers,  State  Geologist,  Pennsylvania 
8 

9  Henry  R.   Schoolcraft,  Washington 
10  Mrs.   Blandina   Dudley,  Albany 
n  Thomas  Olcott,  Albany 

12  Chancellor  Gerrit  Y.  Lansing,  Albany 

13  Gideon  Hawley,  Regent  at  Large,  Smithsonian  Institution 

14  Ezra  P.  Prentice,  Albany 

15  Rev.  Dr.  William  B.  Sprague,  Albany 

20  Sir  William  Logan,  Montreal 

21  Orlando  Meads,  Albany 

22  Dr.  Philip  Ten  Eyck,  Albany 

23  Alexander  D.  Bache,  Sup't.  U.  S.  Coast  Survey 

24  Prof.  Benjamin  A.  Gould,  Director,  Dudley  Observatory 

25  Hon.  Horatio  Seymour,  Ex-Governor  of  New  York 

26  General   Peter  Gansevoort,   Albany 

27  Hon.  John  V.  L.  Pruyn,  Albany 

28  Martin  B.  Anderson,  President,  University  of  Rochester 

29  Prof.  Benjamin  Peirce,  Harvard  College 


MONTREAL  ADDRESS  323 


the  word  "Albany;"  whereat  Agassiz  in  joining  the 
motion  added:  "and  with  his  eyeballs  turned  in- 
ward in  adoring  memory." 

The  meeting  over  and  many  important  discus- 
sions held,  a  very  positive  impulse  had  been  given 
to  American  science  and  the  reaction  upon  Pro- 
fessor Hall  was  to  confirm  him  among  his  own 
people.  Soon  Dana  writes  (September  5,  1856) : 

DEAR  HALL: 

I  feel  anxious  to  know  how  you  are  after  the  long  siege 
of  the  Association,  for  you  each  day  seemed  hardly  strong 
enough  for  its  duties  and  I  have  feared  that  when  the 
pressure  was  finally  off  you  might  have  a  relapse.  I  shall 
be  gratified  to  learn  that  you  are  gaining  in  strength  and 
health.  It  was  a  magnificent  meeting  and  it  must  be  a  source 
of  special  pleasure  to  you  that  this  best  of  all  our  meetings 
was  under  your  presidency  and  too,  in  your  city.  Albany 
did  nobly  indeed.  I  shall  ever  remember  the  untiring  efforts  of 
Doctor  Armsby,  Mr.  Gavit  and  Mr.  Woolworth  and  the  kind- 
ness and  liberality  of  very  many  others  among  the  citizens. 

The  Montreal  Address 

In  1857  the  meeting  was  at  Montreal  under  the 
auspices  of  Sir  William  Logan.  Professor  Jacob 
W.  Bailey  of  the  West  Point  Military  Academy, 
the  most  distinguished  American  student  of  micro- 
scopic palaeontology,  had  been  elected  president, 
but  he  had  died  in  the  interval.2' 

2  Jacob  W.  Bailey  entered  the  West  Point  Military  Academy  at 
the  age  of  17  and'  was  at  the  time  of  his  death  Professor  of  Chem- 
istry, Mineralogy  and  Geology  in  that  institution.  His  wife  and 


324 


JAMES  HALL 


KEY  TO  PLATE 

i  Hon.  Edward  Everett,  U.  S.  Senator 

30  Dr.  James  MacNaughton,  Albany 

31  Governor  Myron  H.  Clark 

32  Ex-Gov.  Washington  Hunt 

33  Dr.  Alfred  L.  Loomis,  New  York 

34  Victor  M.  Rice,  Sup't.  Public  Instruction 

35  Prof.  Louis  Agassiz,  Cambridge 

36  Dr.  Ebenezer  Emmons,  Albany 

37  Prof.  James  D.  Dana,  New  Haven 

38  Prof.  James  Hall,  Albany 

39  W.  C.  Redfield,  ist  President,  A.A.A.S. 

40  Prof.  Samuel  H.  Hammond 

41  Prof.  Charles  Davies,  U.  S.  Military  Academy 

42  B.  P.  Johnson,  President,  State  Agricultural  Society 

43  Prof.  Dr.  James  H.  Armsby,  Albany 

44  Hon.  Ira  Harris,  Albany 

45  Hon.  Amasa  J.  Parker,  Albany 

46  Amos  Dean,  LL.D.,  Albany 

47  Hon.  Robert  H.  Pruyn,  Albany 


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8 


HALL  ON  MOUNTAIN  MAKING    325 

This  meeting  at  Montreal  was  the  occasion  of 
Hall's  most  notable  performance  in  philosophical 
geology,  embodied  in  his  address  as  retiring  presi- 
dent. Under  the  title  "  Geological  History  of  the 
North  American  Continent,"  President  Hall  under- 
took an  exposition  of  the  procedure  of  mountain 
making  and  continental  uplift  which  bore  not  only 
the  evidence  of  profound  reasoning  based  on  broad 
experience  but  had  all  the  exciting  interest  of 
novelty.  It  was  a  carefully  thought  out  course  of 
argument,  but  obviously  Hall  presented  it  with 
tentative  caution  and  some  degree  of  timidity,  at 
all  events  with  entire  absence  of  finality;  for  he 
would  not  .permit  its  publication  in  the  usual  way 
in  the  next  year's  volume  of  the  Association's  pro- 
ceedings. In  fact  it  was  not  printed  by  the  Asso- 
ciation for  more  than  twenty-five  years  (1883); 
but  it  was  printed,  we  presume,  essentially  as 
delivered,  in  the  Introduction  to  his  Palaeontology 
III.  In  this  essay  Hall  set  forth  two  essential 
propositions : 

1.  That  ranges  of  folded  mountains  exist  only 
where  sediments  have  uniformly  accumulated  to 

daughter  perished  by  the  burning  of  the  steamer  Henry  Clay  on 
the  Hudson  River  in  1852,  the  same  accident  that  resulted  in  the 
death  of  Andrew  J.  Downing.  Professor  Bailey  died  in  his  46th 
year  leaving  behind-  him  a  son  who  has  become  a  distinguished 
ornament  of  the  science  of  geology  and  who,  now  in  his  82nd  year, 
has  borne  for  more  than  a  generation  the  title  of  Provincial  Geol- 
ogist of  New  Brunswick;  Loring  W.  Bailey,  LL.D.,  Fredericton, 
N.  B. 


326  JAMES  HALL 

maximum  thickness  and  that  such  maximum  accu- 
mulation is  possible  only  by  corresponding  depres- 
sion of  the  sea  bottom  along  the  edges  of  continents 
delivering  such  sediments.  In  this  conception  of 
crustal  downfoldings,  afterward  called  geosyn- 
clines  by  Dana,  was  involved  the  idea  of  extended 
lineaments  or  directrices  of  continental  structures. 
The  other  fundamental  'proposition  was 

2.  That  folded  mountains  result  from  the 
crumpling  of  the  upper  layers  only  of  these  accu- 
mulated deposits,  a  consequence  of  the  adjustment 
of  the  later  sediments  to  a  deepening  but  contract- 
ing depression. 

Incidentally  he  established  a  geodetic  principle 
then  undefined,  but  having  to  do  with  compensa- 
tory movements  of  the  earth's  crust;  the  neces- 
sary uprising  of  the  continental  plateau  in  response 
to  the  downward  movement  of  the  geosyncline; 
isotasy,  as  it  is  now  termed;  and  inferentially  ac- 
counted for,  though  not  in  accordance  with  present 
notions,  the  variant  attitudes  of  the  strata  within 
the  crustal  depression;  disconformities  and  minor 
unconformities.  According  to  these  ideas,  areas 
of  maximum  accumulation  were  uplifted  to  the 
continental  plateau  and  bore  axial  mountain  ranges, 
which  were  folded  not  of  necessity,  as  the  Catskill 
mesa  indicated,  but  only  in  cases  where  a 
narrowing  trough  compelled. 


THEORY  OF  MOUNTAINS  327 

The  author  was  able  to  fortify  his  themes  with 
a  greater  wealth  of  evidence  than  any  one  else 
could  muster  from  the  rocks  of  America  and  from 
an  intimate  knowledge  of  Appalachian  structures 
throughout  this  range  of  folded  mountains;  and 
though  he  conceded  that  his  suggestions  regarding 
terrestrial  equilibrium  may  have  been  intimated  in 
remote  connection  by  Babbage  and  Herschel,  he 
insisted  that  his  arguments  were  derived  from 
data  wholly  unlike  theirs. 

Hall's  thesis  was  quickly  attacked.  It  was 
pointed  out  that  his  troughs  of  depression  were 
scores  of  times  as  wide  as  deep,  and  were  in  fact 
like  inert  scratches  on  the  crust,  and  Dana  told 
him  he  had  developed  a  fine  theory  of  mountain 
making  but  had  left  the  mountains  out. 

The  geologists  went  away  from  Montreal  shak- 
ing their  heads,  and  soon  Professor  Joseph  Henry 
wrote  anxiously  but  in  a  most  friendly  spirit  ask- 
ing for  some  light  on  these  new  ideas: 

"  I  should  be  pleased  to  have  an  opportunity  to  discuss 
with  you  your  new  views  of  geology.  They  are,  as  I  under- 
stood them  from  your  remarks  at  Montreal,  of  such  a 
remarkable  character  that  did  they  not  come  from  you  I 
would  suppose  there  would  be  nothing  in  them.  Your 
opinions  are  however  entitled  to  my  attention  and  respect 
though  they  may  be  considered  at  variance  with  what  have 
long  been  regarded  established  principles.  If  after  having 
brought  your  views  to  the  test  of  the  widest  collection  of 
facts  you  still  are  assured  they  are  correct,  then  give  them 


328  JAMES  HALL 

to  the  world,  but  I  beg  that  you  will  be  cautious  and  not 
commit  yourself  prematurely. 

Forgive  the  freedom  of  my  remarks  —  they  are  dictated 
by  a  regard  for  your  reputation  which  belongs  to  the  science 
of  the  country  and  is  now  powerful  in  the  advance  of  truth 
or  in  the  propagation  of  error. 

I  remain  very  truly  your  friend 

JOSEPH  HENRY 

The  answer  to  this  request  is,  perhaps,  the 
simplest  presentation  that  can  be  given  of  this 
important  matter,  for  it  was  addressed  to  a  man 
who  was  not  a  geologist. 

Professor  JOSEPH  HENRY 

Smithsonian  Institution       ALBANY,  December  26,  1857. 

MY  DEAR  SIR: 

I  very  much  regret  that  it  has  not  been  in  my  power  to 
discuss  fully  wjth  you  the  points  which  I  have  brought  for- 
ward in  my  address,  and  which  appear  to  some  of  my  friends 
so  strange  as  to  hazard,  or  rather  as  the  expression  is,  to 
"  compromise  "  my  scientific  reputation.  I  agree  with  you 
that  no  one  should  advance  new  views  or  theories  till  well 
considered,  and  I  should  be  extremely  sorry  to  advance  any- 
thing which  was  not  founded  on  the  manifestations  of 
Nature.  I  can  say  that  thus  far  I  have  exercised  the  most 
scrupulous  care  that  all  I  have  advanced  should  bear  the 
test  of  the  most  careful  reexamination  —  and  I  would  sooner 
commit  a  moral  falsehood  than  a  scientific  one,  jf  I  could 
deliberately  do  either. 

My  views  are  the  most  simple  and  natural  conclusions 
from  the  observed  facts,  and  so  simple  that  I  am  surprised 
that  the  same  idea  should  not  have  occurred  to  every 


HALL  TO  HENRY  329 

observer.  In  the  first  place  geological  accumulations  are 
spread  over  an  ocean  bed ;  towards  the  source  of  this  material 
and  along  the  line  of  the  stronger  current  there  will  be  the 
greatest  accumulation.  It  is  quite  impossible  from  the  nature 
of  the  material  and  of  the  forces  in  operation  that  you  can 
have  deposits  of  uniform  thickness  over  wide  areas.  The 
lines  of  greatest  accumulation  have  been  necessarily  the 
lines  or  areas  of  subsidence,  for  the  sea  has  not  been  deep 
originally,  but  the  bed  has  gradually  subsided  to  admit  the 
accumulation  of  thousands  of  feet.  Simple  subsidence  of  the 
crust  may  account  for  the  plications  of  the  formation.  When 
these  accumulations  subsequently  emerge,  it  is  or  has  been 
on  this  continent  a  continental  emergence,  and  not  an  emer- 
gence along  certain  lines  of  fracture  or  uplifting,  as  we  have 
been  taught  to  believe.  If  we  take  as  an  example  the  Appa- 
lachian chain,  we  find  that  it  is  composed  of  numerous 
parallel  ranges,  as  has  been  well  shown  by  Rogers  and  others, 
but  the  greatest  height  of  the  mountain  chain  scarcely  exceeds 
half  of  the  original  thickness  of  the  deposits  of  which  they 
are  composed.  The  highest  rock  of  the  Green  mountains, 
say  4000  feet  above  tide  water,  is  the  upper  member  of  the 
Hudson  river  group;  now  the  entire  thickness  of  the  sedi- 
ment, from  the  base  of  the  Potsdam  to  the  top  of  the  Hudson 
river  is  scarcely  less  than  10,000  feet.  You  will  see  that 
there  is  much  below  the  sea  level  as  there  is  above  it,  and 
this  I  believe  to  be  true  in  all  similar  mountain  chains.  It 
is  not  therefore  the  elevation  or  uplifting,  if  you  please  to 
call  it  so,  that  has  given  geographical  height,  but  the  original 
thickness  of  the  deposit,  and  no  disturbance  or  uplifting 
of  strata,  that  is  uplifting  of  beds,  can  ever  give  you  as 
great  an  elevation  as  the  original  pile  in  its  horizontal  and 
unaltered  condition.  As  an  .example  we  have  the  Catskill 
Mts.,  nearly  4000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  composed 
of  nearly  horizontal  beds,  while  on  the  east  side  of  the  Hud- 


330  JAMES  HALL 

son  the  disturbed  region  consisting  of  Lower  Silurian  forma- 
tions altogether  at  least  10,000  feet  in  thickness  give  no 
mountains  of  4,000  feet  high.  There  is  another  point  for 
consideration  also.  All  theoretical  sections  give  you  the 
elevation,  as  if  produced  by  the  bulging  up  of  the  granite 
or  some  part  of  the  central  primary  nucleus;  on  the  con- 
trary nearly  all  worked  or  actual  sections  show  nothing  of 
this  or  only  insignificant  effects  from  some  local  outbreak 
of  volcanic  matter.  Geologists  are  pretty  well  agreed  to 
abandon  the  term  primary,  but  they  have  not  at  the  same 
time  dropped  the  theoretical  views  connected  with  it  and  we 
still  reason  as  if  we  had  proved  the  existence  of  an  unstrati- 
fied  primary  mass,  which  in  truth  exists  in  theory  only; 
though  doubtless  existing,  it  nowhere  comes  to  the  surface. 
The  foldings  and  plications  of  strata  which  give  eleva- 
tion seem  generally  to  involve  nothing  beyond  that  set  of 
strata,  as  may  be  shown  in  numerous  sections  made  in  this 
country  and  in  Europe.  Nor  do  elevations  thus  produced 
remain  elevations,  for  so  soon  as  strata  are  bent  upwards 
they  are  weakened  by  cracks  &  otherwise,  and  subjected  to 
erosion,  so  that  we  never  or  almost  never  find  the  exhibition 
which  we  might  suppose  would  result  from  a  folding 
and  plication  of  the  strata.  If  we  show  a  set  of  strata 
thus  wrinkled,  we  shall  find  that  the  anticlinal  axes  are  all 
eroded  so  that  instead  of  being  mountains,  these  parts  are 
really  valleys,  while  the  original  valley,  the  synclinal,  is  the 
mountain,  the  erosion  having  gone  on  so  as  to  remove  all 
that  part  above  the  red  lines,  while  the  line  of  sea  level  is 
about  midway  between  the  base  and  top  of  the  group  of 
beds ;  or  there  may  be  often  a  much  larger  proportion  of  the 
material  beneath  the  sea  level.  If  you  will  examine  some 
sections  in  the  first  volume  of  the  Memoirs  of  the  Geol. 
Survey  of  Great  Britain  you  will  see  the  representation  of 
the  amount  which  has  been  eroded,  the  proportion  above  the 


HALL  TO  STERRY  HUNT  331' 

sea  level  and  that  below.  Had  these  beds  continued  unbroken, 
we  should  have  had  high  hills  where  there  are  now  valleys. 
The  valleys  are  lines  of  greater  disturbance,  while  the  moun- 
tains and  higher  grounds  are  those  parts  where  there  has 
been  least  disturbance.  See  also,  if  you  will,  any  set  of  really 
worked  geological  sections  and  you  will  find  essentially  these 
features. 

As  to  another  important  phase  of  his  proposi- 
tions, that  of  attendant  secondary  change  or  meta- 
morphism,  he  writes  to  his  friend  Sterry  Hunt 
(October  10,  1858) : 

"  In  reference  to  my  views  in  connection  with  this  matter 
of  mountains  I  have  distinctly  said  in  my  Montreal  address 
that  these  lines  of  accumulation  and  metamorphism  are  coin- 
cident ;  that  the  line  of  the  Appalachian  chain  is  likewise  the 
line  of  metamorphic  action  and  effects  of  that  action  become 
less  and  less  visible  as  you  recede,  etc.,  not  from  any  primary 
or  incandescent  nucleus,  but  as  you  recede  from  the  line  of 
greatest  accumulation  of  sediments  and  as  the  accumulated 
beds  become  thinner,  the  evidence  of  metamorphic  action 
becomes  less  and  less  apparent.  I  have  cited  moreover  the 
axes  along  the  Mississippi  valley  where  the  strata  are  thin, 
showing  they  neither  produce  mountain  elevations  nor  are 
they  metamorphic,  though  often  tilted  at  angles  equal  to  the 
inclined  strata  on  the  flanks  of  the  Appalachian  chain.  It 
seems  to  me  very  clear  that  there  can  be  no  metamorphism 
affecting  any  considerable  extent,  without  previous  accumu- 
lation." 

Twenty  years  elapsed,  and  in  the  light  of  later 
knowledge  he  writes  to  Clarence  King,  director  of 
the  new  United  States  Geological  Survey,  who  had 


332  JAMES  HALL 

asked  if  he  still  held  to  his  explanation  (Jan.  10, 
1876) : 

"  In  relation  to  my  views  of  mountain-building,  I  do  not 
know  that  they  have  undergone  any  material  change.  I  can- 
not believe  that  mountain  ranges  exist  without,  in  the 
first  place,  accumulation  of  sediments  —  which  must  be 
along  coast  lines  or  current  lines  —  or  perhaps  I  should  not 
take  it  for  granted  that  you  believe  all  our  formations  of 
sedimentary  origin.  But  when  our  oldest  Laurentian 
granites  show  that  they  were  originally  conglomerates,  and 
that  the  pebbles  of  these  conglomerates  are  stratified  or 
laminated  rock,  it  is  going  a  long  way  back  with  sedi- 
mentation. 

Then  we  know  that  these  accumulations  did  not  always 
take  place  in  a  deep  sea,  for  in  the  semi-metamorphic  rocks 
we  have  ripple  marks,  fucojds  and  mud  cracks  at  various 
depths  through  20,000  feet  of  thickness.  I  believe  therefore 
that  these  great  accumulations  produced  a  depression  of  the 
crust.  I  do  not  intend  to  ignore  contraction  from  cooling 
but  really  this  seemed  to  me  to  be  recognized  as  an  elemen- 
tary principle  and  it  did  not  occur  to  me  at  the  time  to  use 
the  arguments.  I  believe  you  can  have  no  great  amount  of 
depression  without  producing  numerous  minor  foldings  as 
you  may  see  within  every  synclinal  fold  in  a  gneiss  rock. 

Mountains  are  not  elevated  as  ranges  of  mountains,  but 
as  part  of  the  continental  movement.  Erosion  has  taken 
place  along  the  weakest  lines,  the  anticlinals.  The  syn- 
clinals have  been  protected  and  remain  as  the  final  results. 

I  was  led  to  this  conclusion  by  a  study  of  the  New  Eng- 
land ranges,  the  Adirondacks  (Laurentian)  and  the  Appa- 
lachian as  far  south  as  Virginia  —  and  a  comparison  with 
the  thinning  expansions  of  the  same  formations  in  the  west. 
I  have  seen  too  little  of  the  Rocky  Mts.  to  be  entitled  to  an 


GEIKIE  ON  HALL'S  THEORY       333 

opinion,  but  at  a  point  known  as  Bear  Mountain,  I  believe, 
forty  miles  west  of  Laramie,  and  where  the  snow  remains 
till  August,  I  found  the  mountain  mass  regularly  stratified 
and  dipping  to  the  westward  away  from  the  eastern  escarp- 
ment. 

I  can  only  say  therefore  that  I  have  seen  nothing  to 
change  in  any  material  degree  my  general  views  of  mountain 
building.  Were  I  to  review  and  rewrite  my  views  I  might 
present  some  points  more  clearly,  but  the  hoped  for  time 
has  not  yet  come  to  me,  and  I  must  trust  to  you  and  to  others 
to  interpret  with  what  limits  you  will,  the  expression  of 
views  based  perhaps  upon  too  limited  an  observation  and 
acquired  amid  the  more  serious  labor  of  tracing  out  and 
identifying  by  their  fossil  contents  the  widespread  palaeozoic 
formations  of  the  United  States  on  the  east  of  the  Mississippi 
River." 

The  years  have  run  on;  it  is  interesting  to  in- 
quire where  now  those  virgin  ideas  stand  in  the 
science  today,  I  quote  first  from  James  Geikie,  the 
distinguished  Scotch  geologist,  in  his  Mountains; 
Their  Origin,  Growth  and  Decay  (Edinburgh 
1913,  p.  199) : 

"James  Hall,  a  well  known  American  geologist,  appears  to 
have  been  the  first  to  formulate  -the  opinion  that  a  deep 
trough  or  basin  of  depression  has  in  all  cases  preceded  the 
process  of  mountain  making.  In  his  view,  therefore,  the 
materials  of  which  our  folded  mountains  have  been  con- 
structed were  slowly  accumulated  in  elongated  depressions 
of  the  crust.  The  strata  thus  accumulated  are  chiefly  cr 
exclusively  marine  and  for  the  most  part  appear  to  be  of 
shallow  water  origin.  They  are  comparable,  in  short,  to  the 
sediments  now  gathering  off  continental  coasts  at  no  great 


334  JAMES  HALL 

distance  from  the  land.  An  immense  succession  of  strata 
composed  of  such  material  obviously  must  have  been  de- 
posited upon  a  gradually  sinking  sea-floor.  It  would  seem 
therefore  that  there  must  be  a  causal  connection  between 
crustal  subsidence  and  sedimentation;  either  subsidence  is 
the  cause  of  continuous  accumulation  or  the  crust  must  sag 
under  a  gradually  growing  weight  of  sediment." 

On  the  basis  of  Herschel's  earlier  suggestions 
regarding  compensatory  down  and  up  movements 
of  the  crust,  "  the  removal  of  the  rock  material 
from  the  land "  says  Geikie,  "  would  cause  the 
latter  to  rise  while  the  adjacent  sea-floor,  weighted 
with  the  transported  material,  wrould  tend  to  sink. 
James  Hall  extended  this  view  to  explain  the  origin 
of  the  Appalachian  mountains  and  similar  ranges, 
maintaining  that  great  troughs  or  basins  were 
caused  by  the  gradual  sagging?  of  the  sea-floor 
under  a  constantly  increasing  load  of  sediment." 

And  after  speaking  of  the  objections  to  the 
theory  raised  by  contemporary  writers,  to  which 
we  have  already  referred,  Geikie  proceeds: 

"  Hall  was  aware  that  his  theory,  while  it  accounted  as  he 
thought  for  the  folding  of  the  strata,  left  the  elevation  of 
the  mountains  unexplained.  It  became  necessary,  therefore, 
to  postulate  another  crustal  movement  and  to  suppose  that 
after  the  folding  of  the  strata  had  been  completed,  the 
whole  region  was  uplifted  so  as  to  form  a  wide  plateau  out 
of  which  the  existing  ranges  and  valleys  were  subsequently 
carved  by  eros.ion.  Other  objections  have  been  urged  to 
James  Hall's  theory  of  the  origin  of  mountains,  but  as  it  no 
longer  finds  supporters  we  may  leave  it  here." 


LOI  DE  JAMES  HALL  335 

"  One  of  his  doctrines  however,"  the  author  im- 
mediately adds,  "  has  gained  considerable  accept- 
ance, the  doctrine,  namely  that  denudation  induces 
elevation  of  the  land  while  concurrent  sedimenta- 
tion causes  the  sea-floor  to  sink."  After  a  close 
analysis  of  this  proposition  which  seems  to  ignore 
the  isostatic  element  embodied  in  it,  Geikie  con- 
cludes (p.  210)  with  a  general  endorsement  of  the 
interpretation,  probably  originating  with  Dana 
and  now  accepted  by  Suess  and  Schuchert,  that 
such  depressions  are  due  to  the  progressive  shrink- 
ing of  the  earth's  volume. 

That  is  one  expert  opinion.  We  may  now  look 
to  a  quite  different  exegesis  of  Hall's  views. 
Haug,  the  eminent  French  geologist,  in  his  Traite 
de  Geologic  (1907,  p.  159),  after  referring  to 
Hall's  gravitational  interpretation  and  to  Dana's 
introduction  of  the  term  geosyncline  for  a  depres- 
sion caused  not  by  sagging  under  accumulating 
weight  but  by  radial  compression,  proceeds  to  say : 

"  It  is  evident  that  the  formation  of  a  geosyncline  can  not 
be  directly  observed,  but  one  must  infer  its  existence 
wherever  it  is  possible  to  determine  an  elongated  zone  on  the 
surface  of  the  globe  which  is  characterized  by  a  considerable 
thickness  of  sediments  belonging  to  a  definite  geological 
period  and  which  is  bordered,  in  part  or  otherwise,  by  regions 
where  the  sediments  attain  a  very  much  reduced  thickness. 
Usually  the  beds  of  a  geosyncline  are  of  deep  water  origin 
while  the  lateral  beds  are  of  shallow  water.  But  this  is  not 
an  invariable  rule."  "  To  James  Hall  we  owe  another  deter- 


336  JAMES  HALL 

mination  which  has  become  the  basis  of  modern  erogenic 
theories.  This  author  has  shown  that  the  position  of  the 
folded  regions  of  the  earth  coincide  with  zones  of  greatest 
sedimentation.  Today  we  give  this  law  the  following 
expression:  Mountain  chains  are  formed  on  geosynclines." 
"  The  most  remarkable  verification  of  James  Hall's  Law  [loi 
de  James  Hall] ;  is  furnished  by  the  zone  of  Alpine  folds." 

and  the  author  proceeds  to  abundantly  elaborate 
the  illustrations  of  this  law  of  folded  mountains. 

With  these  opposing  conclusions  as  to  the  per- 
petuity of  Hall's  argumentation  we  may  rest  this 
theme.  His  Montreal  address  is  still  a  monument 
to  his  sagacity. 

With  the  closing  of  the  busy  decade  came  its 
cap-sheaf  and  crown,  the  publication  of  Palae- 
ontology III,  a  work  which,  I  think,  is  to  be  rated 
the  finest  in  quality  of  research  as  it  was  the  most 
impressive  in  size,  of  all  its  author's  productions 
to  this  time.  The  imposing  monograph  in  two 
quarto  volumes  was  entitled  "  Palaeontology 
Volume  III,  Containing  Descriptions  and  Figures 
of  the  Organic  Remains  of  the  Lower  Helderberg 
Group  and  the  Oriskany  Sandstone " ;  its  first 
volume  was  a  text  bearing  the  date  1859  and  carry- 
ing 556  pages,  while  the  second  (1861)  contained 
142  plates  of  beautiful  drawings  by  Meek  and 
Whitfield,  exquisitely  lithographed  by  Swinton  and 
together  constituting  a  great  advance  in  finish  and 
accuracy  of  detail  over  the  previous  volumes  and 


VOLUME  THREE  337 

the  finest  illustrations  of  such  objects  that  had  yet 
been  made  in  America.  These  volumes  included 
in  the  Introduction  the  notable  essay  just  referred 
to  expanded  with  vast  detail  to  a  length  of  92 
quarto  pages.  The  work  had  been  prepared  amid 
all  sorts  of  distractions  and  interruptions;  but  in 
all  the  many  excursions  of  its  author  into  other 
issues  he  never  lost  sight  or  hold  of  his  main  enter- 
prise. Herein  he  brought  together  an  extraor- 
dinary wealth  of  ancient  life  from  the  Helderberg 
formations  whose  profusely  loaded  sediments  lay 
best  developed  in  the  hills  about  Albany ;  and  from 
the  rich  sands  of  the  Oriskany  formation  which 
stretch  across  New  York  in  broad  outcropping 
lenses;  and  in  these  two  volumes  he  depicted  a 
wondrous  panorama  of  life.  A  singular  interest 
was  given  to  these  works  by  the  fact  that  even  at 
this  time  Hall  was  not  willing  to  say  positively 
whether  these  formations  were  to  be  interpreted 
as  appertaining  to  the  Silurian  or  to  the  Devonian 
System.  On  this  proposition  he  would  not  commit 
himself,  in  his  profounder  wisdom  still  seeing  in 
them  conjoint  members  of  the  New  York  System 
of  Formations  with  which  other  systems  might, 
were  it  desirable  or  worth  while,  be  coordinated. 
He  recognized  the  arguments  first  advanced  by 
DeVerneuil  for  regarding  the  Oriskany  as  the 
opening  member  of  the  Devonian  System,  and  he 

was  fully  alive,  as  no  other  was,  to  the  mixture  of 
22 


338  JAMES  HALL 

Silurian  and  Devonian  elements  in  the  Lower 
Helderberg  limestones  ;3  but  his  indifference  to  such 
correlations  is  noticeable  and  Murchison's  dog- 
matic terms  were  still  obviously  distasteful  to  him ; 
they  were  of  minor  importance  in  the  presence  of 
New  York  terms  much  better  defined  in  their  limits 
and  vastly  better  known  as  to  contents. 

Among  the  particularly  fine  parts  of  this  book 
was  the  brilliant  analysis  given  of  those  extraor- 
dinary creatures  of  the  Waterlime  series  (now 
recognized  under  the  name  Bertie  waterlime  as  the 
latest  life  term  of  the  Silurian  System),  the 
Eurypterida,  lobster-like  ancestors  of  the  scorpions 
and  spiders  and  the  most  highly  organized  crea- 
tures of  the  then  known  world,  but  whose  relations 
with  the  life  of  today  was  yet  buried  in  mystery. 
They  were  classic  objects  in  the  old  rocks  of 
Britain  where  the  Scotch  quarrymen  called  their 
broad  flat  bodies  "  seraphim "  and  the  Scotch 
stone-mason  Hugh  Miller  described  them.  The 
New  York  development  of  these  creatures  in  the 


3  In  present  interpretation  both  of .  these  faunas  are  included  in 
the  Devonian  System  as  its  basal  elements.  When  the  writer  seri- 
ously brought  forward  for  the  first  time  in  America  the  predominat- 
ing Devonian  characters  of  the  Helderberg  fauna,  basing  his  infer-i 
ences  of  this  age  not  on  percentages  of  species  common  to  the 
Helderberg  and  to  the  Devonian,  but  on  the  introduction  into  the 
earlier  fauna,  of  a  series  of  definitely  Devonian  biological  types, 
Hall  complacently  remarked,  "  You  are  walking  a  tight-rope ;  if 
your  balancing  pole  drops  down  on  one  side,  your  body  must  lean 
the  other  way." 


PALAEONTOLOGY  AND  PIETY      339 

vicinity  of  Buffalo  and  the  region  south  of  Utica 
was  very  striking  and  the  later  years  have  shown 
an  increasingly  vast  and  varied  assortment  of  them 
from  east  to  west  in  the  State,  more  than  in  all  the 
world  beside.  Hall's  account  of  these!  creatures 
was  the  first  really  exact  and  conclusively  analytical 
study  of  their  morphology  and  to  incorporate  his 
account  of  them  in  this  book  he  held  up  the  presses 
after  all  the  pages  were  numbered  and  inserted 
both  pages  and  plates  after  the  book  was  really 
done. 

Palaeontology  III  is  a  great  panel-stone  in  its 
author's  monument.  Let  me  make  further  refer- 
ence only  to  these  details:  Colonel  Jewett  and 
Ledyard  Lincklaen  were  busily  engaged  in  Central 
New  York  collecting  fossils  for  use  in  this  volume, 
and  one  day  in  1853  Colonel  Jewett  writes  to  tell 
Hall  that  he  has  found  in  Litchneld  a  crinoid 
which  "  I  venture  to  say  is  the  finest  ever  seen  by 
man."  Soon  after,  another  of  this  marvelous  sort 
was  found  by  Mr.  Lincklaen;  and  both  may  be 
found  illustrated  in  the  volume  under  the  name 
Mariacrinus  nobilissimus.  They  were  indeed  the 
most  imposing  and  beautiful  of  the  stone-lilies 
which  the  New  York  rocks  had  then  produced, 
and  Agassiz,  to  whom  Hall  sent  one  of  the  speci- 
mens, exclaimed  with  his  characteristic  enthusiasm : 
"  It  is  the  most  wonderful  thing  I  ever  saw." 
Deeply  impressed  and  in  a  spirit  of  reverent  horn- 


340  JAMES  HALL 

age  Hall  named  the  graceful  creature  for  her  to 
whom  he  would  pay  highest  honor  —  the  Holy 
Virgin,  the  Spirit  of  the  Sea. 

Again  Hall  stopped  the  printing  of  his  book  to 
make  room  for  a  new  and  important  addition  — 
the  outcome  of  an  unlocked  for  and  remote  inci- 
dent. In  1853  he  happened  to  receive  from  Mr. 
William  A.  Thomas  of  Irvington,  N.  Y.,  a  letter 
requesting  him  to  identify  a  certain  oyster  shell 
that  had  come  to  him  from  the  Choctaw  country. 
This  led  to  fresh  correspondence,  suggestions  of 
exchange  and  finally  to  information  about  some 
interesting  fossils  which  were  being  brought 
together  by  Mr.  Thomas's  acquaintance,  William 
A.  Andrews  of  Cumberland,  Maryland.  The 
correspondence  opened  the  door  for  Hall  to  the 
beautiful  Cumberland  Oriskany  fossils  which,  by 
grace  of  Mr.  Andrews,  Hall  added  to  his  book, 
after,  as  we  have  said,  this  book  was  practically 
printed.  Hall  was  ever  a  costly  maker  of  books. 
He  never  hesitated  to  destroy  an  expensive  litho- 
graph plate  even  after  the  edition  was  printed  off, 
in  case  it  seemed  to  him  inaccurate  or  unlovely; 
and  the  profusion  of  his  illustrations  was  more 
than  once  the  basis  of  legislative  inquiry.  He 
printed  advance  editions,  fascicles  and  post-edi- 
tions of  parts  of  his  books  regardless  of  contracts 
and  he  made  and  paid  for  untold  hundreds  of 


PERMIAN  QUESTIONS  341 

drawings  in  expectation  of  use,  many  of  which 
remain  unpublished  to  this  day. 

Troubles  with  the  Permian 

When  the  Baltimore  meeting  of  the  American 
Association  (1858)  was  breaking  up,  Hall  was 
heard  to  speak  somewhat  explosively  of  palae- 
ontology as  the  "  science  of  dead  rabbits  "  —  an 
expression  which  he  had  picked  up  from  some 
legislative  committee  in  Albany.  In  the  meeting 
the  younger  men  had  been  giving  him  a  bad  and 
rather  unfair  quarter-hour  over  the  matter  of  the 
discovery  of  the  Permian  System  in  America. 
The  story  of  this  curious  little  tempest  ran  in  this 
wise: 

In  1856  or  '57,  Major  Frederick  Hawn,  working 
as  a  surveyor  in  Kansas,  had  found  Permian 
fossils  though  without  knowing  their  age,  and  he 
sent  the  part  he  thought  to  be  Cretaceous  on  to 
Meek  who  then,  with  Hayden,  was  at  Albany 
working  in  Hall's  office.  Meek  cleverly  recognized 
their  import  and,  jointly  with  Dr.  Hayden,  who 
had  found  similar  fossils  in  Nebraska  though 
without  recognizing  their  age,  prepared  an  account 
of  them  and  with  Hall's  help,  got  this  account  be- 
fore the  Albany  Institute  early  in  March,  1858. 
To  Swallow,  his  personal  friend,  Major  Hawn  had 
sent  another  series  of  these  rocks,  and  with  the 


342  JAMES  HALL 

hint  of  the  presence  of  the  Permian,  Swallow  came 
before  the  St.  Louis  Academy  with  his  account  of 
the  species  two  weeks  earlier  than  Meek  and  Hay- 
den.  By  the  second  week  in  March,  B,  F.  Shu- 
mard  had  brought  before  the  same  Academy, 
notice  of  Permian  fossils  from  the  Guadalupe 
mountains  in  New  Mexico,  and  by  another  month 
Dr.  Norwood  had  reported  them  from  Illinois.  It 
was  these  Illinois  Permian  fossils  that  made  the 
present  trouble.  Hall  was  just  then  writing  his 
"  Geology  of  Iowa "  and  in  this  volume  which 
bears  the  imprint  of  1858,  he  speaks  of  "  some 
peculiar  fossils  collected  several  years  since  in 
Illinois,"  placed  in  his  hands  in  the  early  part  of 
1857  by  Mr.  Worthen,  of  which  he  says  that  an 
"  examination  proves  them  to  be  of  Permian 
types."  In  a  foot-note  Mr.  Hall  made  reference 
to  the  announcements  mentioned  above,  but  he  had 
himself  thus  announced  a  still  earlier  discovery  of 
the  Permian  though  it  can  not  be  said  that  he 
recognized  the  fossils  as  such  until  these  sugges- 
tions came  to  him  from  outside.  It  is  all  a  curious 
illustration  of  how  scientific  discovery  of  an  im- 
portant fact  often  comes  about  as  a  synchronous 
climax  of  variously  directed  efforts.  It  has  often 
happened  and  doubtless  often  will  happen  when 
intellectual  efforts  of  several  individuals  are  cen- 
tered, perhaps  even  unconsciously,  upon  one  objec- 
tive. The  question  which  now  arose  in  the  Balti- 


FREDERICK  HAWN  343 

more  meeting  was:  Who  discovered  the  Permian 
in  North  America?  Hawn  discovered  the  mate- 
rial; Swallow  was  the  first  to  give  an  account  of 
it,  while  Meek  was  the  first  to  recognize  its  signifi- 
cance, and  Hall,  coming  last,  was  the  man  who 
apparently  attempted  to  antedate  the  whole  proce- 
dure. It  appears  from  some  interchange  of  letters 
between  Hall  and  Joseph  Henry,  that  the  young 
men  had  a  merry  time  with  Hall  over  this  matter 
and  shortly  afterwards,  in  writing  to  Professor 
Andrew  C.  Ramsay  of  the  British  Survey,  Hall 
begs  him  not  to  mention  his  name  in  connection 
with  the  Permian  in  America,  for  he  had  "  resolved 
to  expunge  the  word  Permian  from  the  Iowa 
report ",  though  he  did  not  do  it,  for  his  book  was 
already  nearly  printed;  but  in  his  dedication  to 
Governor  Lowe  which  was  written  in  September 
1858,  he  straightened  the  matter  out  and  washed 
his  hands  of  the  Permian  forever  thereafter. 

The  letter  here  attached,  from  Professor  G.  C. 
Swallow,  is  of  interest  in  this  connection: 

COLUMBIA,  Mo.,  Dec.  6,  1858. 

As  to  Mr.  Hawn ;  I  feel  that  he  is  entitled  to  much  con- 
sideration from  the  Government  and  from  scientific  men. 
He  has  made  all  his  explorations,  as  I  understand  it,  at  his 
own  expense,  although  a  poor  man,  dependent  upon  his  labor 
for  the  support  of  his  family.  He  spent  one  winter  in 
central  Kansas  surrounded  by  the  snows,  savages  and  savage 
beasts  and  has  spent  much  of  his  time  during  the  past  three 


344  JAMES  HALL 

years  and  considerable  money  in  bringing  out  the  geology  of 
Kansas.  It  is  through  him  that  we  know  the  existence  and 
extent  of  the  vast  gypsum  beds  in  central  Kansas.  This  and 
nothing  else  will  enable  the  Government  to  sell  vast  areas 
of  the  sandy  plains  of  central  Kansas  and  if  the  Government 
aids  anyone  in  making  explorations  in  those  regions  it  seems 
but  just  that  Major  Hawn  should  have  such  aid. 

General  Calhoun,  through  my  suggestion  and  the  advice 
of  friends,  made  application  for  means  to  prosecute  those 
geological  explorations  commenced  so  successfully  by  Major 
Hawn  but  d(id  not  succeed  in  obtaining  it.  Still  Major  Hawn 
is  making  further  explorations  this  season  while  making 
linear  surveys  for  the  Government.  I  know  of  no  one  in 
our  country  who  has  labored  with  more  zeal  and  success  and 
at  the  same  time  paid  all  expenses  from  his  own  pocket. 
Major  Hawn  is  the  father  of  the  Kansas  Permian  so  far  as 
the  hard  labor  to  bring  out  the  effect  pertains. 

Miscellanies 

To  this  picture  of  Hall's  activities  there  are 
many  touches  during  this  period,  some  of  light  and 
some  of  shadow,  which  should  be  added  to  make 
the  perspective  true.  Perhaps  among  these  the 
most  pleasing  are  the  evidences  of  loyalty  and 
regard  from  those  who  were  watching  his  career. 
Among  these  admirers  was  General  F.  E.  Spinner, 
Treasurer  of  the  United  States  for  so  long  that  his 
impressive  non-counterfeitable  signature  on  the 
treasury  notes  is  still  a  thing  of  pleasant  memory. 
Professor  James  Woodrow  of  Oglethorpe  Uni- 
versity, Talmage,  Georgia,  who  signs  himself 


HENRY  A.  WARD  345 

"  Your  Fellow  Lover  of  Science  " ;  destined  by  the 
stars  to  become  the  maternal  uncle  of  the  War 
President  who  once  characterized  Science  as  "  an 
ascetic  nun,"  and  afterwards  fortified  her  monastic 
modes  by  authorizing  the  establishment  of  the 
National  Research  Council;  begs  Hall's  advice  in 
directing  his  career  of  scientific  study  in  Europe. 
A  letter  of  1853  introduces  to  Professor  Hall, 
Henry  A.  Ward,  of  Geneseo,  "  a  young  enthusiast 
in  those  sciences  which  you  have  elevated  so  much 
by  your  indefatigable  labors,"  and  begs  that  he 
"  will  bestow  upon  him  a  portion  of  that  personal 
interest  in  his  hitherto  unusually  successful  efforts 
for  scientific  acquisition  which  is  so  much  valued 
by  us  for  its  generous  encouragement."  Hall 
received  young  Ward  warmly,  sent  him  to  Agassiz 
at  Cambridge  where  soon  he  is  "  devoting  my 
whole  time  to  zoology,"  and  late  in  1854  he  writes 
from  Paris  that  he  has  been  "  enabled  through  the 
generosity  of  my  patron  Hon.  James  Wadsworth 
of  Geneseo  to  cross  the  Atlantic  and  pursue  my 
scientific  studies  "  there.  He  was  hearing  lectures 
in  the  Jardin  des  Plantes  and  the  Ecole  des  Mines 
and  already  planning  trips  to  Italy  and  Egypt  to 
indulge  that  extraordinary  acquisitiveness  for  all 
objects  of  science  which  laid  the  foundations  of 
the  now  historic  Natural  Science  Establishment 
at  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  out  of  which  have  graduated 
Grove  K.  Gilbert,  Edwin  W.  Howell,  William  T. 


346  JAMES  HALL 

Hornaday,  Frederic  A.  Lucas,  generations  of 
Wards  and  a  score  of  other  well  trained  scientific 
men. 

Professor  Horsford  writes  from  his  fireside  at 
Cambridge  on  a  winter's  night  in  1856: 

"  I  was  forcibly  reminded  of  you  last  evening  jn  looking 
over  a  pile  of  letters  of  former  dates  and  particularly  of  the 
period  of  my  application  for  the  chair  here.  I  was  com- 
mitting letter  after  letter  to  the  flames,  feeling  that  my  study 
was  getting  too  small  for  the  grand  office  of  storeroom  and 
other  functions,  when  I  came  to  your  kind  and  noble  letters 
and  then  I  stopped  and  the  fire  went  out. 

I  have  recently  paid  a  brief  visit  to  my  father  at  Moscow 
where  linger  the  very  kindest  memories  of  you." 

Even  while  Hall  was  fretting  himself  and 
scolding  Hayden  over  the  outcome  of  the  expe- 
dition to  the  Bad  Lands,  Hayden,  fully  apprecia- 
tive of  his  obligations,  writes  to  him  from  Fort 
Randall,  Dakota  (1858),  that  "  nothing  would  give 
me  greater  pleasure  than  to  be  in  your  employ  or 
in  any  way  connected  with  you  in  exploration. 
There  is  no  one  whose  good  opinion  I  more 
earnestly  desire,  for  whose  labors  I  have  a  higher 
regard  or  whose  friendship  I  could  more  value 
than  yours." 

Barrande,  the  greatest  European  palaeontolo- 
gist, had  begun  to  honor  his  American  colleague 
by  naming  species  in  his  honor  (1853),  a  practise 
which  he  long  continued.  A  letter  from  John  J. 


JOHN  J.  BIGSBY  347 

Bigsby,4  an  English  geologist  very  familiar  to 
Americans,  gives  pleasant  news  and  an  interesting 
picture  (1858): 

*  *  *  *  "  I  need  not  say  that  the  Geological  Society 
awarded  you  in  February  last  the  Wollaston  medal  without  a 
dissenting  voice.  A  man  must  acquire  extraordinary  attain- 
ments nowadays  to  write  up  to  the  Wollaston  medal.  Geology 
in  England  is  only  tolerably  active.  Three  or  four  persons 
are  working  perseveringly  and  successfully  in  new  and  dark 
directions ;  W.  Hopkins  at  this  moment  laboring  on  the  effects 
of  pressure  on  mineral  substances  aided  by  powerful  ma- 
chinery ;  Falconer  on  the  Indian  fauna ;  Sorby  on  the  aqueo- 
igneous  structure  of  granite  by  the  help  of  the  microscope 
and  Beckles  on  the  occurrence  of  kangaroo  rats  in  the  Pur- 
beck  beds  of  England.  Lyell  is  very  busy  elaborating  his 
recent  researches  in  Sicily.  His  love  for  Geologia  suffers 
no  diminution.  Mr  Ramsay,  Professor  in  the  School  of 
Mines,  gives  immediately  at  our  Royal  Institution  a  lecture 
on  the  "  Influence  of  Geological  Formations  on  the  Scenery 
of  Canada."  He  has  come  home  full  of  your  kindness  to 
him.  He  declares  his  visit  to  America  has  been  a  most  de- 
lightful and  most  instructive  epoch  in  his  life.  He  is  full 
of  the  frankness  and  cordiality  and  high  attainments  of  his 
geological  friends  across  the  water,  as  well  as  of  the  good 
done  by  the  wandering  visits  of  scientific  men  from  city 
to  city. 

4  Bigsby  was  an  Army  Surgeon  at  Quebec  in  1819,  and  during  his 
five  years  stay  in  America  he  showed  much  interest  in  geology,  a 
science  in  which  in  later  life  he  attained  some  note.  Dr.  Bigsby's 
first  paper  on  geology  had  reference  to  the  rock  section  on  the 
Genesee  river  at  Rochester  (1820)  and  he  showed  his  interest  in 
American  developments  of  the  science  by  founding  the  Bigsby 
medal,  to  be  awarded  by  the  Geological  Society  of  London  for 
work  on  American  geology. 


348  JAMES  HALL 

For  myself  my  whole  life,  a  happy  one,  has  received  strong 
colouring  from  my  residence  in  the  United  States  and  Can- 
ada. Had  I  time  to  go  over  again  I  should  be  far  more 
diligent. 

The  new  edition  of  Mantell's  Wonders  is  beautifully  edited 
by  Rupert  Jones,  our  young  assistant  secretary.  He  has  just 
been  appointed  geological  lecturer  at  one  of  our  Military 
Colleges  with  a  good  salary.  We  lose  our  best  men  by  dire 
necessity  compelling  them  to  teach  rudiments  all  their  lives 
long." 

Hall  did  in  fact  receive  not  only  the  Wollaston 
medal  but  the  surplus  of  the  Wollaston  fund, 
altogether  the  most  notable  award  in  the  Society's 
control. 

Professor  Andrew  C.  Ramsay  came  to  Canada 
for  the  Montreal  meeting  of  the  American  Asso- 
ciation and  after  the  meeting  visited  Hall  who 
took  him  over  the  classical  localities  about  Albany. 
Hall  took  this  favorable  opportunity  to  borrow 
some  money  of  him  and  we  find  this  memorandum 
attached  to  an  acknowledgment  from  Ramsay  of 
repayment. 

LONDON,  13  July,  1859. 

"  I  saw  Agassiz  on  Monday,  and  lunched  with  him  at  Sir 
R.  Murchi son's.  .We  were  a  jolly  party,  consisting  of  Agas- 
siz and  his  wife  and  daughter,  Lord  Eniskillen,  Lyell,  H.  D. 
Rogers  (whose  face  is  not  always  strictly  jolly),  Huxley  and 
myself  besides  our  host  and  Lady  M.  Agassiz  went  yester- 
day to  Switzerland  to  see  his  mother." 


REPROOF  FROM  HENRY          349 

We  have  made  passing  reference  to  the  troubles 
which  nearly  wrecked  the  Dudley  Observatory,  but 
it  would  serve  no  illuminating  purpose  to  recount 
them  further.  Hall  was  in  it  all,  now  upholding 
the  director,  Benjamin  Apthorpe  Gould,  and  now 
impeaching  him;  involved  with  Henry,  Bache  and 
the  Coast  Survey ;  lamenting  the  schism  which  not 
only  scandalized  scientific  circles  but  split  the  city 
of  Albany  wide  open.  He  could  not  keep  his 
fingers  out  of  the  boiling  pot,  though  it  was  none 
of  his  and  he  was  sure  to  scald  them.  Joseph 
Henry,  kindly  and  wise,  before  whom  as  the  high- 
est official  representative  of  science  he  sprea'd,  one 
after  another,  his  personal  antagonisms  and  his 
terrifying  phantasmagoria;  denunciations  of  Fos- 
ter, Whitney,  Meek,  Hayden,  Shumard,  and  now 
a  wail  of  diatribe  over  the  Observatory  affairs; 
reproves  the  nerve-strained  wrangler  (August  2, 
1858) : 

"  Life  was  given  to  us  for  higher  and  nobler  purposes  than 
the  gratification  of  our  desire  for  personal  aggrandizement, 
and  it  would  be  far  wiser  for  us  to  seek  our  reward  in  the 
pleasure  of  the  discovery  of  new  truths  than  in  the  reputa- 
tion which  should  result  from  such  discovery.  We  should 
endeavor  to  fulfill  our  mission  as  humble  and  laborious  minis- 
ters of  Nature,  striving  to  enlighten  our  fellow  men  in  the 
truths  which  have  been  revealed  to  us  as  the  result  of  our 
faithfulness  and  we  shall  in  due  time  certainly  meet  with 


350  JAMES  HALL 

our  reward.    But  if  the  reward  is  the  end,  our  hopes  will 
not  be  realized. 

My  own  opinion  is  that  you  have  undertaken  too  much 
for  your  strength  and  that  you  w,ill  be  obliged  to  share  the 
field  of  research  with  others,  not  as  your  equals  but  as 
working  under  direction  and  receiving  a  proper  share  of  the 
credit  and  emolument.  *  *  *  * 

I  would  in  conclusion  impress  upon  you  that  life,  health 
and  above  all,  peace  of  mind  are  far  above  scientific  repu- 
tation and  that  these  ought  not  to  be  endangered  by  an 
attempt  to  accomplish  more  than  your  own  strength  or  a  due 
regard  to  the  advance  of  truth  will  justify. 

Truly  your  friend  and  servant. 

JOSEPH  HENRY " 

This  uplifting  reproof  seems  to  have  been  care- 
fully pondered  and,  perhaps  as  ourselves  in  like 
case,  he  looked  about  him  to  see  whom  the  boot 
fitted.  In  a  few  weeks  he  writes  to  Dana  ( Septem- 
ber 10,  1858) : 

"Were  I  to  tell  you  that  I  am  an  unbeliever  in  science 
you  need  not  be  shocked.  It  seems  to  me  I  can  no  longer 
go  on  and  the  events  of  the  past  year  have  again  and  again 
turned  me  to  the  resolution  that,  did  I  know  enough  of  any 
respectable  business  or  profession  to  earn  an  honest  living 
I  would  at  once  abandon  science  forever  and  could  I  erase 
my  name  from  every  printed  page  and  annihilate  all  I  have 
done,  it  should  be  done  tomorrow.  This  is  not  a  sudden 
resolution  and  jt  is  daily  becoming  strengthened.  Still  a 
few  more  years  of  endurance  [40  years !]  and  it  will  be  at  an 
end.  In  Albany  at  the  present  time  one-half  of  the  best  men 
or  those  who  have  heretofore  been  regarded  as  the  best  men 
in  our  community  are  arrayed  against  each  other  with  the 


JULES  MARCOU  351 

most  bitter  and  unrelenting  animosity  and  all  for  science,  as 
they  say.  It  will  require  years  to  bring  again  the  same 
harmony  that  existed  before  and  some  at  least  of  the  present 
generation  will  die  before  that  event  can  come.  *  *  *  * 
What  is  worse  I  fear  it  will  not  end  with  Albany  and  the 
animosities  engendered  here  will  be  elsewhere  manifested 
and  we  are  likely  to  have  for  many  years  the  fruits  of  this 
bitterness." 

Another  incident  seemed  to  have  contributed  to 
this  renunciation.  Jules  Marcou,  who  had  now 
returned  to  Switzerland  and  found  a  place  in  the 
Federal  Polytechnic  School  at  Zurich,  had  just 
issued  a  book  entitled :  "  Geology  of  North 
America,"  signing  himself  as  "  Formerly  United 
States  Geologist."  It  was  a  wholly  incompetent 
production  and  Dana  flayed  it  mercilessly  in  Silli- 
man's  Journal,  but  Hall  could  not  rebound  from 
the  towering  affront  cast  upon  him  by  Marcou, 
whose  only  reference  to  him  was  the  statement 
that  the  New  York  Survey  was  principally  dis- 
tinguished by  the  sketches  made  by  Mrs.  James 
Hall! 

Professor  Hall  had  been  kind  to  Marcou  and 
had  set  him  on  his  feet  when  he  arrived  in  this 
country  and  this  return  was  gross;  indeed  it  was 
never  forgiven  nor  was  it  forgotten  decades  later 
when  a  cruel  attempt  was  made  from  this  country 
to  impugn  Hall  in  the  scientific  circles  of  Europe. 
Desor  wrote  from  Neuchatel  (March  15,  1857)  to 


352  JAMES  HALL 

tell  Hall  that  European  geologists  were  scandal- 
ized by  Marcou's  book  and  that  his  patron  Elie  de 
Beaumont  was  determined  to  get  rid  of  him. 

But  let  us  look  again  at  the  other  side  of  this 
barometrical  spirit.  There  was  a  German  doctor 
in  Burlington,  Iowa,  by  the  name  of  Otto  Thieme, 
a  bit  of  the  high-class  wreckage  of  1848,  washed 
by  the  Atlantic  on  American  shores.  He  says  of 
himself : 

"  I  have  been  an  old  doctor  of  Weimar  where  I  was  placed 
thirteen  years  alone  as  tribunal  and  head  physician.  And 
besides  it  I  studied  always  natural  sciences  for  which  I  was 
prepared  especially  as  assistant  of  the  renowned  anatom 
Johannis  Muller  of  Lichtenstein,  Burmeister,  Link,  Weiss, 
etc.  It  has  been  in  former  time  my  aim  of  life  to  prepare 
myself  in  every  way  for  investigations  of  strange  countries 
in  regard  of  natural  sciences,  but  the  carrier  was  changed. 
I  became  only  physician  and  I  did  continue  to  study  besides 
my  business  in  private  especially  zoology  and  botany.  My 
whole  house  was  filled  with  a  beautiful  museum.  Finally 
my  life  has  been  broken  by  an  unavoidable  awful  domestic 
misfortune  and  the  only  way  to  save  me  was  the  sudden 
resolution  for  emigration.  I  lost  all  and  came  like  a  ship- 
wrecked man  to  America.  I  have  till  now  only  to  intend  to 
make  my  life  and  to  prepare  myself  more  and  more  in 
English  language.  All  my  collections  I  made  around 
Burlington  and  all  my  peculiar  observations  I  sended  to  my 
home  for  scientific  use.  At  present  I  am  sorry  of  it  and  I 
don't  any  more  because  I  imagine  they  would  be  at  next  time 
more  important  for  this  country.  Now  I  am  going  to  come 
forward  by  writing.  I  wrote  in  the  last  time  for  the  German 


A   FRIEND  IN  NEED  353 

newspaper  about  the  surroundings  of  Burlington  and  I  hope 
I  will  finish  next  winter  a  German  book  about  physical 
geography  of  Iowa  to  which  I  feel  particular  influenced  by 
your  geological  report.  You  appears  to  me  the  right  source 
for  scientific  l,ife,  the  man  of  the  power  to  raise  up  a  man  of 
higher  intentions  from  this  obscure  place.  One  word  of 
your  lips  if  some  opportunity  would  be  sufficient  to  bring  me 
nearer  to  the  science.  I  offer  myself  for  use  to  some  ex- 
pedition for  assistance  of  a  museum  and  scientific  institution 
because  I  am  convinced  even  by  a  small  salary  to  effort  every- 
where a  better  existence  besides  as  physician  and  by  writing. 
I  hope  I  may  become  worthy  of  your  kind  doing  for  me,  if 
you  would  so  soon  my  gratitude  should  never  be  extin- 
guished." 

Such  an  appeal  "to  the  man"  never  went  un- 
heeded; money  and  employment,  specimens  and 
publications  went  out  to  him,  with  recommenda- 
tions to  friends  in  Iowa  which  brought  him  in 
touch  with  his  desires'  to  such  a  degree  that  his 
name  is  conserved  in  the  geology  of  that  State.5 

5  Mr.  Frank  Springer,  who  knew  Dr.  Thieme,  writes  me : 
"  Thieme  was  a  man  of  unusual  learning  and  accomplishments. 
By  profession  a  physician,  he  was  a  lover  of  nature,  and  collected 
extensively,  from  insects  to  fossils,  especially  the  crinoids  of  the 
Burlington  area,  of  which  he  made  a  fine  collection,  which  after  his 
death  passed  into  my  hands.  He  did  a  more  important  thing  for 
Palaeontology,  however,  by  inducing  Wachsmuth,  whose  physician 
he  was  —  then  a  merchant  and  in  ill  health,  and  knowing  nothing  of 
fossils, —  to  go  with  him  into  the  hills  and  quarries  of  Sundays, 
collecting  crinoids.  This  was  primarily  for  the  sake  of  exercise 
and  health,  but  it  was  the  beginning  of  Wachsmuth's  interest  in  the 
subject,  to  the  study  of  which  he  gave  so  many  years,  with  such 
important  results  for  the  benefit  of  our  science." 
23 


354  JAMES  HALL 

When  the  election  came  to  the  Presidency  of  the 
American  Association,  Colonel  Jewett  sends  a  char- 
acteristic message: 

UTICA,  April  23,  1856. 

We  have  had  a  rejoicing  on  your  account  this  morning. 
Lincklaen  wrote  me  a  jewel  of  a  letter  and  told  the  fact  that 
you  are  President  of  the  Scientific  Association.  Why  did 
you  not  inform  me?  It  is  one  of  the  best  things  of  the 
year.  How  it  wjll  please  the  Deacon  [Emmons]  and  Geb- 
hard ! !  And  will  not  the  good  people  of  Albany  think  by 
and  by  that  you  are  "  some  "  ?  But  it  astonishes  me  that 
the  congregated  Science  of  the  United  States  should  elect 
a  "  Jesuit "  to  preside  over  their  deliberations  —  it  is  worse 
than  making  one  a  Chief  Justice  of  the  Union  [Taney]  if 
possible  —  but  that  awful  wretch  of  a  Jackson  did  the  latter 
and  he  had  no  regard  for  law  or  gospel. 

Please  accept  our  very  hearty  congratulations.  The  act 
is  one  of  those  now  so  very  rare,  bestowing  an  office  on  a  man 
eminently  worthy  of  it.  Wife  has  bid  me  extend  the  con- 
gratulations to  Mrs.  Hall — which  reminds  me  of  the  old 
Yankee  story  of  the  good  yeoman  who  was  elected  Corporal, 
and  his  small  boy  said  "  Mother  are  we  all  Corporals  "  ?  She 
told  him  "  No,  you  little  goose,  only  your  father  and  I." 

We  have  had  occasion  to  refer  to  Mr.  Whit- 
field's  work  in  connection  with  the  Survey  of  Iowa 
and  Volume  III,  and  further  notice  of  his  assist- 
ance to  Hall  may  be  necessary,  for  he  remained 
with  his  chief  twenty  years;  longer  than  any  of 
his  predecessors  or  followers,  and  in  this  period 
achieved  an  excellent  repute  for  his  workmanship. 
Mr.  Whitfield  came  to  Albany  in  1856  on  the 


ROBERT   P.    WHITFIELD  355 

recommendation  of  Colonel  Jewett.  He  was  then 
an  apprentice  in  the  Chubbuck  establishment  at 
Utica,  which  was  a  manufactory  of  scientific  in- 
struments, and  here  with  his  natural  love  of 
fossils  he  had  opportunity  to  train  himself  in 
draftsmanship.  Hall  needed  such  a  man  and 
offered  him  $550  a  year  and  a  house,  to  which  Mr. 
Whitfield  agreed  with  the  condition  that  he  should 
work  eight  hours  a  day.  Hall  demurred;  he  must 
have  an  assistant  who  would  be  on  hand  whenever 
needed,  for  he  says,  "there  is  no  time  when  I 
might  not  want  something  done  that  it  would  be 
extremely  difficult  to  wait  for  till  another  day  " ; 
and  it  was  under  this  day-and-night  arrangement 
that  Mr.  Whitfield  took  up  his  labors  in  Albany. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  PERIOD  OF  VOLUME  IV— 1860-1867 

Concluding  Procedures  in  Iowa  —  Reorganization  of  Iowa 
Survey  —  Dissolution  of  Wisconsin  Survey  —  New 
York  "  Regents  Reports  "  —  Modes  of  publication  — 
Fossil  plants  —  Troubles  with  the  "  Quebec  Group  "  — . 
Report  on  Graptolites  —  Reorganization  of  State 
Cabinet  —  Hall  Director  of  new  State  Museum  — 
The  Cohoes  Mastodon  —  Grove  K.  Gilbert's  first 
work  — Death  of  A.  A.  Gould  — Hall  buys  his 
collection  of  Mollusca  —  Lewis  A.  Morgan,  founder 
of  American  Ethnology  —  His  first  publications  in 
"  Regents  Reports  "  —  Sir  James  Anderson  —  Intimate 
relations  with  Hall  —  The  Civil  War  —  Dissolution  of 
Southern  Geological  Surveys  —  Carl  Rominger  — 
Hermann  Credner  —  John  J.  Bigsby  —  Edward  S. 
Morse  —  Edward  Orton  —  The  geological  Methodist. 

IT  was  characteristic  of  Professor  Hall's  mode 
of  work  now,  that  the  prosecution  of  his  official 
researches  should  proceed  without  demonstra- 
tion or  break.    But  this  procedure  came  gradually 
and  there  were  still  many  outside  connections  to  cut 
loose  from. 

The  complacency  and  pride  he  had  felt  in  the 
scientific  respectability  of  his  Iowa  reports  was,,  we 
have  already  noticed,  not  enhanced  by  his  expe- 
rience as  State  Geologist  of  Wisconsin.  In  both 
States  he  was  now  in  hot  turmoil.  For  Iowa  he  had 
printed  a  volume  on  Geology  which  covered  but  the 
[356] 


PROCEDURES    IN    IOWA  357 

eastern  part  of  the  State ;  into  the  coal  lands  he  had 
barely  entered.  He  had  also  printed  a  rather 
sumptuous  and  very  excellent  volume  on  Fossils. 
His  plan  was  for  subsequent  volumes  on  both 
themes,  especially  on  palaeontology  and  for  these  he 
had  gathered  extensive  materials.  But  expensive 
books  on  fossils  were  not  what  the  Iowa  taxpayers 
were  looking  for  when  the  Survey  was  authorized, 
and  in  spite  of  the  high  scientific  merit  of  these 
reports,  the  press  of  the  State  was  critical  and  very 
hostile  to  the  continuance  of  the  organization.  In 
1860  the  legislature  refused  to  make  any  further 
appropriation  for  it,  and  they  would  not  reverse 
their  decision  in  spite  of  Hall's  appeals  to  his 
friends,  Senator  Grimes,  Judge  Lowe,  and  to 
Samuel  I.  Kirkwood,  who  was  Governor  in  1862. 
Naturally  this  correspondence  ran  into  rather 
specific  acrimony  toward  some  of  his  assistants 
who  he  believed  were  trying  to  unseat  him, 
even  though,  as  he  insisted  to  his  friends,  he  had 
the  material  ready  for  additional  volumes.  For 
several  years  he  regarded  himself  as  State  Geolo- 
gist of  Iowa  because  the  legislature  was  without 
power  to  repeal  the  contract  made  with  him  by 
Governor  Grimes.  Dr.  Charles  A.  White,  whose 
services  Hall  had  reengaged  in  anticipation  of 
favorable  action  by  the  legislature  of  1860,  was  kept 
active  in  Iowa  and  New  York.  But  White,  as  a 
citizen  of  Iowa,  was  desirous  of  having  the  Survey 


358  JAMES  HALL 

continued  along  lines  that  would  be  acceptable  to 
the  citizens.  This  very  suggestion  set  off  Hall's 
explosives,  though  White  was  too  loyal  to  Hall  to 
be  disturbed  by  any  accusations  of  infidelity. 
"  Mutual  friends  "  helped  to  start  some  fires  but 
Dr.  White  never  flinched  in  devotion  or  in  judg- 
ment. In  January  1865,  he  writes  to  Hall,  referring 
to  some  unfair  comment  in  Iowa  regarding  Hall's 
administration : 

"  I  take  this  occasion  to  remark  that  during  nearly  seven 
years  of  correspondence  and  two  years  of  intimate  relation 
with  you  no  word  or  act  of  yours  has  given  me  cause  to 
complain,  but  that  so  far  as  I  am  concerned  our  intercourse 
has  been  every  way  agreeable  and  profitable,  and  if  I 
had  followed  your  advice  in  relation  to  scientific  pursuits 
I  might  have  made  myself  an  honorable  name  in  science 
instead  of  wasting  my  life  as  a  village  doctor.  I  regret 
exceedingly  that  any  person,  particularly  any  lowan  should 
so  far  forget  himself  as  to  make  disparaging  remarks  con- 
cerning the  unusual  efforts  you  have  made  at  great  pecuniary 
loss  to  yourself  to  save  to  science  and  the  State  a  work  of 
such  importance  to  both." 

Soon  after  Doctor  White  stated  the  situation  in 
Iowa  clearly : 

May  2d,  1865. 

"  The  repeated  refusal  of  the  legislature  of  Iowa  to 
respond  to  your  requests  for  the  appropriation  of  money  to 
resume  and  complete  the  State  Geological  Survey  or  to  re- 
fund to  you  the  money  actually  expended  by  you  on  the 
work  after  your  term  of  appointment  had  expired,  would 


A    NEW   IOWA    SURVEY  359 

of  itself  convince  one  that  there  is  great  dissatisfaction 
among  the  people  and  their  representatives  with  the  result 
of  your  labors  here,  if  I  had  not  the  additional  assurance 
of  the  fact  from  the  mouths  of  a  number  of  the  members 
of  the  legislature  who  have  told  me  that  it  was  the  definite 
intention  of  the  legislature  not  to  recognize  you  as  State 
Geologist  after  the  expiration  of  the  term  for  which 
Governor  Grimes  appointed  you.  Every  scientific  man  how- 
ever knows  that  your  report  was-  a  valuable  addition  to 
science  and  the  objection  urged  against  ,it  by  others  does  not 
arise  from  a  disbelief  in  your  ability,  but  they  consider  that 
you  are  more  desirous  of  adding  to  your  scientific  name 
than  of  instructing  the  people  of  the  State  in  relation  to 
its  resources.  I  have  earnestly  endeavored  to  have  our  leg- 
islature comply  with  your  wishes  in  this  matter,  as  you  are 
thus  aware,  without  any  expectation  of  .personal  advantage, 
but  since  it  has  become  certain  that  we  are  to  have  peace, 
I  have  addressed  a  number  of  my  scientific  and  other  friends, 
suggesting  the  probability  that  I  should  ask  our  legislature 
next  winter  to  make  an  appropriation  to  resume  and  com- 
plete the  work  and  appoint  myself  in  charge  of  it." 

He  then  asks  Hall  for  his  recommendation  for 
the  place  and  Hall,  still  insisting  that  he  is  State 
Geologist,  sends  him  a  strong  endorsement  saying 
that  he  had  intended  to  eventually  turn  over  the 
Survey  to  him,  but  he  claims  his  right  to  print  his 
reports  as  soon  as  the  legislature  of  1866  is  in 
session.  He  writes  to  the  new  Governor,  William 
M.  Stone,  a  strong  appeal  to  be  allowed  to  print 
these  accumulated  documents.  He  got  no  satisfac- 
tion. Doctor  White  was  appointed  State  Geologist 


360  JAMES  HALL 

and  Mr.  Hall  was  left  with  claims  for  unpaid 
salary,  for  large  costs  incurred  in  illustrations  and 
with  really  valuable  manuscripts.  Some  of  the 
latter,  which  related  to  palaeontology,  he  printed 
partly  at  his  own  expense  and  partly  in  the 
"  Regents  Reports/'  but  his  disbursements  were  not 
refunded. 

If  there  was  trouble  in  Iowa  there  was  no  less 
in  Wisconsin  and  indeed  even  less  ceremony.  The 
Wisconsin  legislature  in  1862  referred  the  whole 
matter  of  continuing  their  Geological  Survey  to  the 
Committee  on  State  Affairs  and  after  what  seems 
to  have  been  a  careful  inquiry,  they  stated  that  the 
Survey  had  already  expended  $30,000  without  any 
return  whatever  except  one  volume  of  a  report  at 
an  extra  cost  of  $3.00  a  volume.  The  Committee 
thought  the  sum  "  ample  to  have  secured  the  serv- 
ices of  three  capable  men,  but  managed  and  con- 
ducted as  it  has  been  by  the  present  Commissioners 
it  has  proved  a  failure  in  every  respect  except  in 
the  expenses  incurred."  They  concluded  the 
matter  by  expressing  the  opinion  that  "  the  Com- 
missioners have  violated  the  contracts  on  their  part 
by  a  gross  neglect  of  duty  and  the  State  is  released 
from  any  further  obligations  under  said  contracts." 

Hall  went  at  once  to  Madison  and  told  Governor 
Harvey  personally  that  he  intended  "  to  go  on  with 
my  work  as  if  there  had  been  no  action  of  the  leg- 
islature for  I  regard  that  action  as  not  affecting 


CURTAIN  FALLS  IN  WISCONSIN    361 

my  contracts."  He  did  go  on,  but  he  knew  he  was 
proceeding  at  his  own  risk.  Wisconsin  would  have 
no  more  to  do  with  the  Survey;  it  would  not  even 
listen  to  the  proposals  of  Hall's  assistant,  T.  J.  Hale, 
who  offered  to  complete  the  work  for  a  pitiful  sum. 
Mr.  Hall  was  again  left  with  important  manu- 
scripts, large  disbursements  for  drawings,  a  geo- 
logical map  of  the  State  and  an  unpaid  salary.  The 
State  map  was  afterward  printed  by  him  privately, 
for  as  he  says  to  I.  A.  Lapham,  in  1863,  "  it  was 
made  from  information  collected  under  my  direc- 
tion and  paid  for  by  me.1 

There  were  also  some  "  supplements  "  to  his  re- 
port issued  by  him  personally.  From  the  point  of 
view  of  results  obtained  these  Surveys  in  Iowa  and 
Wisconsin  yielded  a  harvest  of  disappointed  hopes 
while  Hall's  financial  loss  was  disastrous.  He  says 
he  expended  $25,000  on  them  of  which  he  got  back 
nothing. 

It  seems  fair  to  add  this  comment  regarding  the 
mischances  in  Wisconsin.  Hall  had  engaged  Josiah 
D.  Whitney  to  make  the  report  on  the  lead  region 
where  very  active  operations  were  under  way.  Mr. 
Whitney  was  undoubtedly  the  most  competent  per- 

1  Geological  Survey  of  Wisconsin,  James  Hall,  Direct.  Geological 
Map  of  Wisconsin,  Showing  the  Relations  of  the  Geology  with 
that  of  the  Surrounding  States,  compiled  from  the  work  of  the 
Geological  Surveys  of  Wisconsin  and  Iowa  and  from  the  Surveys  of 
Doctors  D.  D.  Owen,  Foster  and  Whitney  and  Professor  A.  Win- 
chell. 


362  JAMES  HALL 

son  he  could  have  found  for  the  work.  "  I  really 
thought  "  he  says,  writing  to  Professor  William  D. 
Whitney,  of  Yale,  his  brother  and  his  coadjutor  in 
these  early  days,  Josiah  D.  having  at  that  time 
[1862]  begun  his  California  work;  "  I  was  doing  the 
State  great  service  in  securing  your  brother  and  in 
carrying  out  this  work.  No  one  else  could  have 
done  it  so  well."  The  trouble  lay  in  the  fact  that 
Whitney  had  shown  very  clearly  with  his  sections 
and  his  "  Crevice-maps,"  that  the  lead  deposits 
were  shallow  and  so  he  frankly  discouraged  "  deep 
mining."  To  this  advice  the  miners  were  openly 
and  for  some  reason  bitterly  opposed.  It  seems 
very  probable  that  this  opposition  on  the  part  of 
empiric  ignorance  dealt  the  death  blow  to  the  Sur- 
vey. Hall  at  least  tried  to  make  W.  D.  Whitney 
believe  this,  much  to  that  distinguished  philologist's 
indignation. 

Over  all  these  miscarriages  and  their  consequent 
misrepresentations  Mr.  Hall  was  much  troubled 
and  President  Hitchcock  writes  him  from  Am- 
herst: 

"  It  is  hard  for  men  who  have  labored  as  you  have  in  the 
cause  of  science  to  be  assailed  by  those  who  would  tear,  off 
your  laurels  and  prove  you  selfish  and  dishonorable.  But 
you  have  the  consolation  of  knowing  that  when  such  attacks 
have  spent  their  force  your  reputation  in  the  scientific  world 
rises  too  high  to  be  reached  by  such  assaults.  In  such  cases 
if  you  can  keep  Old  Adam  down  it  is  perhaps  the  best  way 
to  make  no  reply." 


POVERTY  ON  CRUTCHES          363 

In  the  early  days  of  this  period  Hall  was  poor 
and  he  was  lame.  He  writes  to  G.  M.  Kellogg  of 
Iowa,  to  whom  he  owed  money  for  the  use  of  his 
crinoids :  "  I  doubt  whether  at  this  time  I  could 
secure  for  myself  a  loan  of  $600  on  everything  I 
have.  I  have  no  money  myself,  having  incurred 
debt  and  responsibility  in  the  Iowa  work."  He 
had  tried  to  stop  a  runaway  horse  on  the  Albany 
streets  and  got  knocked  down  with  a  bad  wrench 
to  his  leg  which  developed  a  protracted  sciatic 
lameness,  so  that  for  a  year  or  so  he  hobbled  about 
on  crutches.  The  combination  of  sciatica  with  a 
naturally  irascible  disposition  made  geology  and 
palaeontology  a  fiery  field  in  these  days,  and  if  any 
Roland  felt  called  upon  to  break  a  lance  on  this 
field  he  found  a  lion  malade  in  the  corner.  We 
may  in  perfect  charity  ascribe  many  of  the  con- 
tentious outbursts  of  these  years,  against  his  col- 
leagues, Billings  and  White,  Winchell  and  Worthen, 
even  against  Logan  and  Dana,  to  the  act  of  chivalry 
that  impelled  him  between  a  wild  horse  and  a  hard 
road. 

Despite  crutches  and  western  surveys,  Hall 
was  incessantly  productive  at  home  and  many 
of  his  publications  of  these  years  were  of  highest 
merit.  He  had  now  begun  to  make  the  "  Regents 
Reports,"  that  is,  the  "Annual  Reports  of  the  Re- 
gents of  the  University  of  the  State  of  New  York 
on  the  Condition  of  the  State  Cabinet  of  Natural 


364  JAMES  HALL 

History,"  the  outlet  of  his  palaeontological  re- 
searches, and  though  at  this  time  he  had  no  official 
relation  to  that  institution,  the  publication  of  these 
researches  imparted  a  permanent  value  to  those 
official  documents. 

Out  of  the  multitude  of  his  varied  studies  some 
were  rather  discursive  but  others  were  of  sustained 
value,  especially  those  which  bore  upon  the  intimate 
structure  of  those  important  fossils,  the  brachio- 
pods.  For  this  work  he  was  drawing  his  sugges- 
tions in  very  large  degree  from  the  refined  investi- 
gations by  Thomas  Davidson,  of  Brighton,  the 
highest  authority  of  his  time  in  this  field,  with 
whom  he  had  already  carried  on  an  intimate  cor- 
respondence for  many  years;  an  exchange  of 
scientific  interests  which  was  maintained  for  long 
years  afterward,  even  to  the  time,  twenty-five  years 
later,  when  the  study  of  these  interesting  creatures 
was  revived  on  broader  lines,  with  the  present 
writer  doing  the  work. 

These  researches  into  the  anatomy,  the  delicate 
internal  structures  and  the  interrelations  of  the 
Brachiopoda  were  preparatory  to  Palaeontology  IV, 
and  as  a  given  group  was  brought  toward  comple- 
tion he  thought  it  wise  to  insure  against  delay  by 
prompt  preliminary  publication. 

We  have  just  noticed,  in  speaking  of  the  dis- 
covery of  the  Permian,  how  it  often  happens  in 
scientific  researches  that  the  eyes  and  the  minds  of 


VARIOUS   DOCTORS  365 

several  investigators  are  unconsciously  f ocussed  on 
the  same  field  at  the  same  time.  Two  astronomers 
in  different  countries  searching  for  a  calculated  but 
undiscovered  planet,  find  it  on  the  same  night;  and 
more  than  two  palaeontologists  now  had  their 
minds  intent  upon  the  study  of  the  brachiopods  and 
they  were  constantly  arriving  at  the  same  goals  at 
about  the  same  time.  Hall  was  pioneer  in  the 
American  field,  indeed  he  had  done  so  much  more 
than  all  others  that  he  doubtless  felt  a  certain  pro- 
prietorship which  was  disposed  to  withstand  in- 
vasions of  his  domain.  And  when  Mr.  Billings 
of  Canada,  or  Alexander  Winchell  of  Michigan 
showed  signs  of  too  much  attention  to  these  mat- 
ters, Hall  was  very  quick  to  insure  his  rights 
of  discovery  through  his  avenues  of  publication. 
It  was  often  a  race,  and  those  he  distanced  were 
wont  to  criticise  him  rather  severely  for  his  pro- 
cedures. And  so  there  is  no  little  humor  in  the 
situation  when  he  answers  his  critics  by  telling  them 
that  he  is  hobbling  about  on  crutches  and  is  think- 
ing of  consulting  Dr.  Dio  Lewis  for  his  lameness.2 

1 "  Doctor "  Dio  Lewis  was  a  well  known  "  healer "  of  the  day 
and  pioneer  of  "  physical  culture."  Augustus  A.  Gould  says  of 
him,  in  answering  Hall's  inquiry: 

"The  man  to  whom  you  refer  is,  I  presume,  the  one  who  styles 
himself  Doctor  Dio  Lewis,  teacher  of  gymnastics,  who  has  a  sort 
of  Infirmary  at  Lexington  where  he  treats  invalids  by  exercise, 
kneading,  cold  water,  inflating  the  lungs  and  all  that  sort  of  thing. 
He  cures  in  the  primitive  sense  of  the  word  —  takes  care  of  —  and 
has  a  set  of  original  long  bearded,  supernaturally  wise,  unmedical 


366  JAMES  HALL 

Hall  would  issue  his  results  in  pages  printed  and 
dated  "  in  advance  "  of  a  Regents  Report,  but  by 
the  time  that  Regents  Report  came  out  this  publica- 
tion might  have  grown  to  vastly  greater  size. 
Official  delays  in  printing  sometimes  put  the  dates 
on  these  researches  back  in  quite  unbelievable  way, 
and  Professor  Winchell  expressed  his  admiration 
of  Hall's  ability  to  secure  such  amazingly  quick 
publication :  "  I  notice  that  your  paper  was  read 
before  the  Albany  Institute,  April  29,  and  was  pub- 
lished May  2." 

But  in  spite  of  these  competitions,  the  quality  of 
his  researches  was  not  marred  and  the  same  ex- 
cellence was  evident  in  the  various  other  themes 
of  palaeontology  which  he  touched  upon;  Grapto- 
lites,  Crinoids,  Mollusca.  His  attention  for  a 
while  was  much  engrossed  by  the  fossil  plants.  In 
his  years  of  examination  of  the  New  York  rocks 
he  had  found  many  of  these  but  had  never  accumu- 
lated them  for  special  study,  though  by  training 
he  possessed  a  full  equipment  for  ancient  botany. 
John  William  Dawson,  the  distinguished  Principal 
of  McGill  University,  born  and  raised  in  Nova 
Scotia  not  far  from  the  fossil  coal  forests  of 


men  about  him,  to  carry  out  his  notions.  Any  one  who  wants  to 
consult  some  self-conceited,  wonderfully  gifted  person  of  that  kind, 
may  well  consult  him.  For  any  lady  who  is  dyspeptic,  lazy,  notional, 
his  dumb-bells,  rings,  jumps  and  twists  and  stamps  do  admirably, 
and  wake  up  the  sleeping  energies.  For  one  who  really  has  a  disease 
I  should  recommend  some  reputable,  standard  bona  fide  doctor." 


FOSSIL  PLANTS  367 

the  South  Joggins  and  the  "  Devonian  Fern 
Ledges  "  of  New  Brunswick,  was  assembling  and 
describing  the  Devonian  Flora  as  represented  in  the 
deposits  of  Canada  East  and  to  him  Mr.  Hall  ten- 
dered the  use  of  the  plants  which  he  had  gathered 
from  the  Devonian  of  New  York.  In  the  opinion 
of  Sir  William  the  assemblage  of  plants  thus 
brought  together  was  larger  and  more  variant  than 
from  rocks  of  the  same  age  in  all  the  rest  of  the 
world,  and  his  publications  on  this  theme  were  of 
elemental  importance,  as  they  are  still  today.  Mr. 
Hall  reprinted  the  part  of  Sir  William's  papers 
that  pertained  specially  to  New  York,  and  accom- 
panied them  with  observations  of  his  own  upon 
the  Devonian  Flora.  Then  by  one  of  his  auto- 
suggestive  impulses  he  proceeds  to  describe  and 
demonstrate  as  plants  certain  retort-shaped  and 
spiral  bodies  in  the  rocks ;  "  cock-tail  f  ucoids  "  as 
they  had  been  called  by  some  of  the  earlier  writers, 
and  other  strange  and  graceful  shapes,  vases  and 
cylinders,  with  a  netted  surface  (Dictyophyta) 
cross-woven  like  basketry.  But  none  of  these 
"  plants  "  have  stood  the  test  of  time ;  the  spire- 
plants  (Spirophyton)  seem  to  have  been  the  mark- 
ings made  by  sea-worms  half  buried  in  the  mud, 
and  when  he  described  the  Dictyophyta  he  was 
unconsciously  laying  the  foundation  for  one  of 
the  most  excellent  and  most  elaborate  of  all  the 
great  monographs  he  initiated,  for  these  "  plants  " 


368  JAMES  HALL 

proved  to  be  glass-sponges  and  were  the  heralds  of 
a  vast  array  of  beautiful  objects  from  the  sponge 
fields  of  the  Devonian  and  Carboniferous  rocks. 
Hall  did  not  live  to  see  this  latter  exhaustive  and 
magnificent  treatise  completed. 

Troubles  with  the  Quebec  Group. 

Among  many  matters  of  technical  interest  there 
was  one  which  had  some  special  and  some  con- 
troversial concern,  and  which  still  retains  no  little 
historic  value  both  as  an  illustration  of  the  evolu- 
tion of  geological  conceptions  and  as  an  element  in 
the  "  Taconic  Controversy,"  to  which  we  have 
already  made  various  incidental  references  without 
intention  of  carrying  it  into  its  various  and  com- 
plex ramifications.3  Our  concern  is  now  untech- 
nical  and  only  with  Mr.  Hall's  part  in  it. 

The  State  Geologists  in  their  early  reports  had 
agreed  to  call  the  dark  shale  beds  with  their  inter- 
bedded  sandstone  layers,  which  fill  all  the  valley 
of  the  Hudson,  extend  into  its  upper  reaches,  off 
through  Washington  county  eastward  to  and  into 
Vermont,  and  westward  far  up  the  Mohawk  Valley, 
the  "  Hudson  River  Group,"  and  its  geological  po- 
sition was  set  as  the  highest  term  of  the  Lower 

'  The  development  of  this  problem  and  the  controversies  it  educed 
have  been  put  forth  clearly  and  impartially  by  Dr.  George  P. 
Merrill  (Contributions  to  the  History  of  American  Geology;  Re- 
port U.  S.  National  Museum,  for  1904,  p.  659,  to  which  the  inter- 
ested reader  is  referred). 


QUEBEC  GROUP  369 

Silurian  System.  Now  the  Washington  county 
region  of  these  shales  was  indicated  by  Doctor 
Emmons  as  the  locus  of  his  Taconic  System  and 
it  was  there  that  he  found  the  fossils  which  he 
claimed,  with  entire  justice,  to  be  older  than  any 
other  organic  life  yet  discovered  in  America;  a 
claim  that  was,  at  the  time,  generally  contested. 
When  Hall  issued  his  Palaeontology  I,  he  described 
and  figured  one  of  these  primordial  trilobites 
found  by  Emmons,  and  without  discussion  or  de- 
bate referred  to  it  as  from  the  shales  of  the  Hudson 
River  Group.  Not  long  after  this  the  primordial 
trilobites  of  the  slates  at  Georgia,  Vermont,  were 
discovered  and  collected  by  several  geologists,  Dr. 
E.  Hitchcock  and  C.  B.  Adams;  Billings,  Logan 
and  by  Hall  himself.  After  waiting  a  respectable 
season  and  finding  that  no  one  else  was  disposed 
to  describe  these  impressive  trilobites,  Hall  did  it, 
in  1859,  ascribing  them  all  again  to  the  Hudson 
River  shales.  The  error  was  now  an  egregious 
one  for  in  the  interval  the  character  of  the  pri- 
mordial fauna  had  been  clearly  demonstrated  and 
Hall  himself,  in  his  correspondence  with  Barrande 
and  others,  had  conceded  the  primordial  type  of 
just  such  trilobites. 

Now,  as  it  has  turned  out,  the  real  valuation  of 
this  formation,  the  Hudson  River  Group,  obscure 
even  to  the  early  geologists  and  leading  everyone 
who  took  hold  of  it  into  a  blind  alley,  has  proved 

24 


370  JAMES  HALL 

to  present  the  most  complicated  problem  in  the 
historical  geology  of  New  York.  The  light  began 
clearly  to  dawn  with  Mr.  Walcott's  investigations 
which  set  down  a  score  or  more  of  places  in  these 
eastern  regions  where  Cambrian  or  Taconic  fossils 
were  to  be  found.  Twenty  years  of  consecutive 
and  refined  research  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Ruedemann 
of  the  New  York  Survey  have  made  clear  the  fact 
that  this  comprehensive  mass  of  homogeneous  de- 
posits is  ten  times  as  thick  as  it  was  thought  to  be 
by  Hall  and  his  associates,  and  instead  of  being  a 
formation  having  a  definite  geological  position  at 
the  top  of  the  Lower  Silurian  System,  as  the 
early  geologists  construed  it,  it  represents,  in  shale 
and  sand,  every  unit  term  of  that  System  from  bot- 
tom to  top  and  also  several  well  recognized  elements 
of  the  Cambrian  formation  beneath. 

These  determinations  have  been  based  wholly  on 
the  results  of  an  unceasing  search  for  palaeonto- 
logical  evidence  which  has  produced  unlike  and  suc- 
cessive faunas  in  most  unexpected  variety. 

In  the  first  years  of  Sir  William  Logan's  work  in 
Gaspe  and  the  Lower  St.  Lawrence  (1843)  he  had 
taken  account  of  the  deeply  folded  masses  of  dark 
shales  lying  upturned  beneath  the  limestones  of 
the  "  Silurian  "  series.  These  he  traced  up  the 
St.  Lawrence  to  the  promontories  of  Quebec  and 
Point  Levis  and  in  1848  he  wrote  of  the  great  de- 
velopment of  these  "  Hudson  River  "  shales  here 


"COLONIES"  371 

and  on  the  Island  of  Orleans.  Finding  in  them  a 
great  abundance  of  Graptolites  in  what  he  regarded 
the  higher  beds,  he  proposed  in  1860  to  call  these 
Graptolite  beds  the  "  Quebec  Group."  Sir  William 
believed  he  had  fortified  their  position  by  a  special 
exploration  of  the  country  from  eastern  New  York 
across  Vermont  and  the  region  of  the  Georgia 
slates,  into  Quebec,  begun  in  company  with  Hall 
in  1859  and  carried  through  by  himself.  With  the 
assurance  from  Sir  William  as  to  the  position  of 
the  Georgia  slates  and  of  the  Quebec  slates,  Hall, 
surrendering  his  better  judgment  in  deference  to 
the  great  stratigraphical  skill  of  Logan,  published 
his  account  of  the  Georgia  trilobites  which  in  truth 
were  the  most  palpable  primordial  fossils  that 
America  had  produced. 

He  finds  himself  bombarded  at  once  by  inter- 
rogatories and  reviews  and,  much  to  his  dismay,  he 
discovers  Sir  William  himself,  in  a  published  letter 
to  Barrande  and  directly  thereafter  in  his  monu- 
mental Geology  of  Canada  (1863),  qualifying  his 
own  stratigraphic  conclusions,  and  impressed  by 
Barrande's  conception  of  "  Colonies  "  *  or  the  idea 

4  Barrande's  conception  of  "  Colonies "  was  that  certain  fauna! 
assemblages  having  the  stamp  of  definite  geological  age  might,  under 
conservative  conditions,  such  as  withdrawal  from  the  scene  of  active 
physical  changes,  escape  modification  and  reappear  unaltered  in  rocks 
of  later  date  amid  faunas  altogether  changed.  The  idea  was  im- 
mediately challenged  and  severely  criticised  and  while  the  con~ 
ception  acquired  a  certain  vogue  because  of  its  novelty,  reexamina- 
tion  of  the  Bohemian  rocks  has  shown  that  Barrande's  "  Colonies  " 


372  JAMES  HALL 

of  the  sudden  recurrence  of  faunas  in  rocks  of 
later  date  than  their  normal  position  (a  brilliantly 
illustrated  interpretation  which  had  the  vogue  of 
a  generation)  suggesting  that  the  Georgia  trilobites 
were  such  recurrent  Cambrian  "  colony."  It 
seems  well  to  interpolate  here  some  extracts  from 
the  voluminous  correspondence  on  this  theme  pre- 
cipitated by  the  Georgia  trilobites. 

Hall  writes  to  Joachim  Barrande  (October  15, 
1861): 

"  I  thank  you  most  cordially  for  your  generous  expressions 
in  explanation  of  the  causes  which  induced  me  to  refer  such 
very  distinct  primordial  fossils  to  the  Second  Fauna.  It 
was  true  indeed  that  I  felt  some  doubt  and  I  had  more  than 
once  spoken  to  Sir  W.  E.  Logan  on  the  subject.  I  held 
them  in  my  hands  for  more  than  two  years  believing  and  yet 
instinctively  doubting  the  views  of  stratigraphy  which  pre- 
vailed in  regard  to  the  Vermont  rocks.  To  show  you  my 
original  views  I  inclose  some  parts  of  sections  made  by  me 
across  this  country  in  1844  and  1845  an(l  these  with  others 
were  brought  before  the  American  Association  of  Geolo- 

at  least  are  due  to  .physical  displacements  of  the  strata,  however 
correct  may  be  the  idea  of  a  "recurrent"  or  returning  fauna. 
Barrande  wrote  much  in  "  Defense  des  Colonies "  and  in  a  letter 
to  Hall,  August  27,  1862,  he  says  of  the  attacks  upon  him:  "I 
shall  occupy  myself  in  Bohemia  in  following  up  their  polemique, 
if  my  contradictors 'do  not  acknowledge  their  errors  which  are  of 
a  very  grave  nature.  At  the  bottom  this  whole  maneuvre,  little 
scientific,  has  been  directed  against  a  '  living  colony '  in  Bohemia. 
That  colony  is  myself;  this  is  the  entire  secret.'"  Barrande,  a  Paris- 
ian laboring  in  the  great  Silurian  basin  of  Bohemia  under  the 
patronage  of  the  Count  de  Chambord,  was  then  sensitive  to  his 
exclusion. 


HALL   TO  BARRANDE  373 

gists  and  Naturalists  at  their  meetings  of  1845  and  1846  and 
the  subject  was  most  fully  discussed  at  these  and  other 
meetings.  Dr.  Emmons  contended  that  the  slates  were  be- 
low the  Potsdam  sandstone  and  Prof.  Adams  that  the  sand- 
stones were  not  Potsdam  but  a  newer  rock.  These  sections 
I  had  originally  intended  to  incorporate  in  my  first  volume 
of  the  Palaeontology  of  New  York  but  from  the  differences 
of  opinion  and  distrustful  of  my  own  ability,  I  withheld  them 
till  I  could  have  time  to  review  my  work.  Then  came  in 
1847  or  I^48,  the  views  of  Sir  W.  E.  Logan  that  the  rocks 
of  the  Green  mountain  range  had  been  traced  northward  till 
they  became  nearly  horizontal  and  unaltered  but  containing 
the  usual  fossils  of  the  Hudson  River  Group  proving  them 
to  be  of  the  same  age.  This  view  was  supported  by  the 
chemical  researches  of  Mr.  Hunt,  who  asserted  that  the 
unakered  fossiliferous  beds  had  the  same  composition  even 
to  certain  peculiarities  and  the  presence  of  rare  minerals. 
To  these  conclusions  I  gradually  yielded  and  gave  up  my 
own  views  of  physical  structure. 

After  the  discovery  of  the  Georgia  trilobites  in  1857,  I 
wrote  Sir  William  Logan  to  go  to  the  locality  with  me  as  it 
was  near  where  I  had  made  a  section  of  the  strata,  but  he 
expressed  himself  that  there  could  be  no  doubt  regarding 
the  position  of  the  rocks.  It  was  only  in  June  and  July 
1859  that  he  visited  the  place  and  I  awaited  his  return 
before  publishing  an  added  account  giving  his  authority  for 
the  positions  of  the  slates  with  trilobites,  he  having  identi- 
fied the  rock  which  I  considered  Potsdam  sandstone  as  the 
Oneida  conglomerate  or  Medina  sandstone. 

I  could  hardly  suppose  that  these  primordial  'trilobites 
were  existing  in  that  period  as  a  colony  and  my  faith  in 
the  structural  views  of  Sir  W.  E.  Logan  supported  by  the 
chemical  results  of  Mr.  Hunt  made  me  willing  even  to  doubt 


374  JAMES  HALL 

the  correctness  of  the  conclusions  you  had  arrived  at  in 
Bohemia. 

In  September  1860  Sir  William  Logan  was  with  me  here 
and  upon  our  rocks  in  this  vicinity.  He  assured  me  at  that 
time  that  there  was  no  possibility  that  the  rocks  of  Quebec 
could  be  other  than  had  been  represented  and  even  in 
November  after  revisiting  the  locality  I  had  the  same 
assurance. 

However,  there  is  still  another  point  which  you  will  doubt- 
less look  for.  In  my  volume  I  of  the  Palaeontology  of 
New  York,  published  jn  1847  but  printed  in  1846,  I  have 
introduced  Olenus  as  from  the  Hudson  River  Group.  At 
that  time  we  had  no  knowledge  of  a  "primordial  fauna" 
and  even  after  we  possessed  this  knowledge  this  example 
was  affected  by  the  same  reasoning  as  the  others.  The 
typical  localities  of  the  Hudson  River  Group  in  the  Hudson 
Valley  at,  above  and  below  Albany  are  of  the  same  slates 
—  rocks  of  the  same  age.  The  Graptolites  which  I  have 
described  from  the  Normanskill  are  deep  in  the  exposures 
of  a  denuded  anticlinal  fold  and  must  be  placed  in  these 
primordial  slates.  Graptolites  which  we  have  been  count- 
ing upon  as  so  characteristic  of  the  Second  Fauna  are  far 
more  abundant  in  these  .later  slates. 

Dr.  Emmons  did  not  at  first  nor  for  a  long  time  claim 
for  his  Taconic  System  an  extension  to  the  Hudson  River 
Valley,  but  fully  believing  that  my  colleagues  in  the  Geologi- 
cal Survey  had  ascertained  the  continuity  of  the  rocks  of 
the  valley  of  the  Hudson  with  those  of  the  Mohawk  Valley 
at  the  west,  I  contented  myself  with  working  from  this 
valley  eastward  and  proved  as  I  thought  (and  as  it  now 
proves  true)  that  there  were  no  series  of  slates  older  than 
the  Hudson  River  Group  between  the  Hudson  River  and 
the  Massachusetts  line. 


SILLIMAN  AND  HITCHCOCK       375 

I  take  great  shame  to  myself  for  having  first  abandoned 
the  position  I  had  taken  regarding  the  physical  geology  and 
adopting  the  views  of  others  and  eventually  yielding  my 
palaeontological  opinions  in  the  same  direction." 

Mr.  Hall  writes  to  Benjamin  Silliman  (January 
10,  1861): 

"  You  are  probably  aware  of  the  position  Sir  W.  E.  Logan 
has  taken  in  regard  to  the  Quebec  rocks,  etc.  Up  to  the 
2oth  of  November  his  word  to  me  was  stronger  than  ever 
that  there  could  be  no  doubt  of  the  position  of  the  Quebec 
rocks.  I  am  sorry  that  he  could  not  on  stratigraphic  grounds 
have  maintained  his  position.  I  have  gone  with  him  fully 
and  all  his  Graptolites  are  cited  from  the  Hudson  River. 
Even  the  latest  writings  for  the  Decade  place  the  shales  of 
Canada  in  which  I  have  recognized  groups  identical  with 
those  of  New  York  as  several  hundred  feet  below  the 
Quebec  or  Pt.  Levis  rocks.  I  feel  that  there  is  yet  a 
fallacy  somewhere  and  were  I  in  communication  with  W.  B. 
Rogers  I  should  urge  him  to  insist  on  stratigraphical  proof. 
As  for  me  after  all  that  has  been  said,  I  can  only  go  back 
to  my  palaeontological  convictions." 

To  Edward  Hitchcock  (January  26,  1861),  to 
much  the  same  effect : 

"  I  ought  to  have  written  you  before  now  in  reference 
to  the  shales  of  Georgia,  Quebec  Group  etc.  When  I  wrote 
I  had  no  definite  information  that  Sir  William  Logan  had 
abandoned  his  position,  which  to  the  2Oth  of  November 
he  had  strenuously  maintained.  You  have,  I  dare  say,  before 
this  time  seen  his  letter  to  M.  Barrande.  He  has  in  that 
abandoned  his  ground  and  gone  to  palaeontological  evidence. 


376  JAMES  HALL 

The  volume  of  this  evidence  you  will  be  able  to  determine 
when  you  see  my  communication  to  Silliman's  Journal. 

Now  the  case  appears  to  me  to  be  simply  this:  Sir 
William  has  abandoned  his  own  ground  of  stratigraphical 
sequence  and  has  gone  to  palaeontology.  This  palaeon- 
tology if  correctly  determined  completely  breaks  up  the 
scheme  of  successive  faunae  of  Barrande  and  we  are  in 
fact  again  quite  afloat.  In  this  state  of  the  case  I  cer- 
tainly feel  greatly  dissatisfied,  for  it  seems  to  me  that  Sir 
William,  whose  position  in  stratigraphical  geology  is  second 
to  no  one,  should  not  have  given  up  his  ground  in  this  way 
but  should  have  insisted  on  a  mere  thorough  determination 
of  this  Primordial  fauna." 

In  a  long  letter  to  Sir  William  E.  Logan,  dated 
November  23,  1861,  Hall  says,  among  other  things : 

"  Everyone  must  know  that  from  the  first  we  all  recog- 
nized these  Trilobites  of  the  Georgia  Slates  as  of  primordial 
types,  and  jn  making  my  species  I  referred  them  to  such 
types  even  while  taking  you  as  authority  for  saying  that 
they  were  found  in  a  higher  formation  —  and  for  myself 
I  gave  up  my  opinion  founded  upon  the  fossils  alone,  and 
in  my  reverence  for  your  ability  as  a  stratigraphical  geolo- 
gist did  violence  to  my  palaeontological  opinions. 

So  long  ago  as  1845  I  made  a  section  across  Vermont 
and  then  recognized  the  Potsdam  sandstone  in  several  locali- 
ties. I  referred  the  only  fossil  I  knew  to  Conocephalus. 
After  my  section  was  engraved  and  printed  and  I  had  an 
opportunity  of  publishing  it,  I  sent  a  copy  to  Adams  who 
interpreted  differently  the  phenomena,  but  his  original  sec- 
tion I  still  possess.  Then  came  your  announcement,  not 
prompted  by  anything  from  me,  for  I  had  said  nothing  to 
you  on  the  subject,  that  you  had  traced  the  folded  and  con- 


LOGAN  AND  AGASSIZ  377 

torted  slates  of  Vermont  into  Canada  where  they  assumed  a 
horizontal  condition  and  they  were  already  of  the  age  of 
the  Hudson  River.  When  about  publishing  the  fossils  from 
Georgia  in  1859  I  waited  a  month  to  see  or  hear  from  you, 
knowjng  that  you  were  examining  the  Vermont  rocks  at 
the  points  I  had  examined  fourteen  years  previously,  and 
there  seemed  still  a  hope  that  you  might  see  as  I  had  seen 
them  so  far  as  the  sandstones  are  concerned,  and  this  might 
change  the  whole  aspect  of  the  matter.  On  your  return  you 
assured  me  in  the  most  emphatic  manner  that  there  was  no 
possibility  of  making  out  anything  older  than  shales  of 
Hudson  River  and  the  sandstones  you  considered  as  Medina 
&c,  and  you  regarded  the  Quebec  group  as  still  higher  than 
true  Hudson  River.  Again,  in  September  1860,  and  even 
later,  in  November  1860,  I  had  from  you  the  same  une- 
quivocal assurances.  My  "  palaeontological  views  "  were 
certainly  not  in  favor  of  the  interpretation  you  had  given 
to  the  rocks,  and  I  confess  to  too  much  yielding  to  your 
stratigraphical  conclusions  in  placing  the  primordial  types 
of  Olenus  in  your  Hudson  River  rocks." 

And  this  clear  statement  to  Agassiz  (December 
16,  1861): 

MY  DEAR  AGASSIZ  : 

I  enclose  to  you  two  sections  made  by  me  in  Vermont  in 
1844,  and  brought  before  the  Association  of  Geologists  &c 
in  1845  and  1846  and  fully  discussed  then  and  subsequently 
with  other  sections  of  1844  and  1845.  You  will  see  that  I 
recognized  Potsdam  sandstone  and  slates  resting  upon  it. 
Emmons  contended  that  the  slates  below  were  Taconic,  and 
Adams  that  the  [Highgate]  sandstone  was  Medina  sandstone 
or  something  newer  than  Hudson  River. 


378  JAMES  HALL 

In  1847  an(*  48  came  Logan's  views,  and  following  these 
from  a  physical  aspect  came  the  chemical  demonstration  by 
Hunt  that  the  fossiliferous,  now  metamorphic,  slates  of  the 
Hudson  River  Group,  where  they  spread  out  in  a  nearly 
horizontal  position  on  the  north,  were  the  extension  of  the 
Green  Mountain  shales  etc.  and  none  other  than  the  Hudson 
River.  I  gradually  acquiesced  but  finally  advocated  these 
views  so  strongly  put  forth  by  the  Canada  Survey  and  with- 
held my  engraved  sections  till  I  could  review  my  work,  a 
time  that  has  never  come,  and  now  so  far  as  I  can  learn, 
I  am  to  be  accused  of  having  led  the  whole  geological  world 
astray. 

These  sections  as  you  see  them  engraved  were  in  the 
hands  of  Adams,  Hitchcock  and  others,  and  after  contending 
long  enough  I  have  remained  quiet.  I  remember  well  your 
remarks  last  winter  when  you  saw  that  I  was  trying  to  sus- 
tain Sir  W.  E.  Logan's  views,  or  rather  to  explain  jn  some 
plausible  manner  what  did  not  seem  very  clear  in  his  exposi- 
tion of  Quebec  Rocks.  Really  it  is  very  strange  that  four- 
teen years  working  on  these  rocks  should  not  have  given  the 
true  explanation  of  the  physical  structure.  One  of  my 
Vermont  sections  is  near  or  at  a  place  he  examined  in  1859 
and  made  the  rock  Medina  sandstone  or  Oneida  conglomer- 
ate and  gave  me  the  assurance  that  the  Olenoid  trilobites 
were  in  the  upper  part  of  Hudson  River  Group. 
I  am  truly  your  friend 

JAMES  HALL 

And  in  this  struggle  to  get  himself  right  he  sends 
the  same  story  to  Dana  and  some  others. 

The  term  Quebec  has  now  passed  out  of  recogni- 
tion in  the  Palaeozoic  series  of  formations.  It 
served  a  useful  provisional  purpose  in  much  the 


GRAPTOLITES  379 

same  sense  as  did  the  term  Hudson  River  but  both 
have  gone  the  same  way  with  the  resolution  of  their 
component  parts.  It  was  not  therefore  a  very  help- 
ful procedure  when  Dana,  in  one  of  the  early  edi- 
tions of  his  "  Textbook,"  proposed  the  term  Cana- 
dian for  the  entire  complex  of  these  debated  rocks 
of  the  Upper  St.  Lawrence  and  the  Eastern  Town- 
ships. The  name  was  offered  in  testimony  to  the 
labors  of  the  Canadian  geologists  in  this  field  but 
it  was  protested  by  them  and  Sir  William  Dawson 
characterized  its  "  absurdity  "  in  view  of  the  fact 
"  that  Canada  is  a  region  greater  than  the  United 
States  of  America  and  with  equally  varied  geo- 
logical structure."  B  The  term,  shorn  of  its  original 
intention  is  still  permitted  to  remain,  a  vestige  of 
an  inconsiderable  distinction. 

Out  of  the  churning  of  these  debates  came  at  last 
the  Memoir  on  the  Graptolites  of  the  Quebec  Group 
as  Decade  2  of  the  Canadian  Survey.  It  was  the 
culmination  of  investigations  begun  in  1854  at 
Point  Levis,  and  as  these  discoveries  grew  with 
the  constant  restudy  of  the  debated  ground,  so  the 
researches  became  enlarged  and  enriched  during 
the  eleven  years  in  which  they  were  carried  out. 
This  account  was  by  far  the  most  refined  and 
brilliantly  illustrated  investigation  of  the  Grapto- 
lites which  had  been  made,  and  it  creates  a  very 

3  Harrington's  "  Life  of  Sir  William  Logan."  Appendix  A. 
p.  415,  1883. 


380  JAMES  HALL 

definite  epoch  in  the  study  of  these  singular  and,  at 
that  time,  little  understood  creatures.  No  one  had 
grasped  the  nature  of  these  animals  and  their  high 
value  in  the  determination  of  geological  horizons 
had  not  been  at  all  apprehended.  Professor  Hall 
brought  out  an  army  of  genera  and  species  and 
gave  a  clear  analytical  study  of  their  composition. 
He  demonstrated  the  fact  that  he  was  dealing  with 
compound  creatures  growing  in  colonies  and  he  first 
recognized  their  true  mode  of  growth.  He  made 
out  their  fundamental  structures  and  depicted  what 
he  believed  to  be  initiative  parts  which  he  called 
"  reproductive  sacs  "  and  "  germs  "  and  though 
these  parts  are  otherwise  construed  now,  yet  these 
determinations  doubtless  stimulated  investigators 
both  here  and  in  Europe.  He  showed  that  the 
Graptolites  were  floating  colonies  in  the  old  seas  and 
on  the  whole  he  conceded  their  relations  to  the 
simple  or  hydroid  corals.  These  are  in  the  main 
well  accepted  interpretations  today,  but  it  is  of 
interest  to  find  in  a  letter  to  Logan,  March  25, 
1858,  an  expression  that  he  would  be  much  inclined 
to  regard  the  Graptolites  as  bryozoans; — a  view 
which  in  later  years  has  been,  urged  by  several 
writers.  In  these  studies  there  was  little  ahead  of 
Hall  except  the  work  of  Barrande,  the  eminent 
Bohemian  palaeontologist  whose  investigations  on 
the  Graptolites  of  the  Silurian  were  published  in 
1850.  A  very  important  conclusion  from  this  work 


THE  STATE   CABINET  381 

was  the  determination  that  the  Graptolites  of  the 
Quebec  shales  were  entirely  different  from  those 
that  he  had  described  from  the  Hudson  River 
shales  at  Normanskill  near  Albany  and  he  would 
not  now  surrender  his  convictions  in  favor  of 
Logan's  stratigraphy,  although  he  never  publicly 
changed  his  view  of  the  "  Hudson  River  "  age  of 
the  Normanskill  Graptolites.  Mr  Ruedemann's  in- 
timate study  of  these  Graptolite  faunas  upholds 
Hall's  judgment  of  the  greater  age  of  the  Quebec 
fauna  making  it  a  basal  term  in  the  Ordovician 
while  the  Normanskill  is  one  stage  higher  up, 
though  far  below  the  "  Hudson  River  "  beds  as 
Hall  conceived  them. 

The  State  Cabinet  of  Natural  History 

Thus  far,  as  we  have  noticed,  Mr  Hall  had  no 
official  relation  to  the  State  Cabinet  of  Natural 
History.  He  had  made  and  unmade  its  curators, 
was  obliged  to  supply  it  with  a  stipulated  part  of  his 
collections  when  these  were  gathered  with  the  help 
of  State  money 6  and  he  had  been  permitted  by  the 
Regents  of  the  University,  who  were  charged  with 
the  care  of  the  Cabinet,  to  publish  his  researches  in 

'This  was  a  specific  provision.  Money  was  appropriated  for  the 
preparation  of  the  researches  and  it  was  for  him  to  decide  how  far 
the  collection  of  materials  was  a  necessary  part  of  them.  If  he  spent 
this  money  on  such  collections  then  the  State  exacted  a  portion  of 
them  for  the  Museum, —  at  one  time  one-third,  at  another  one-half. 
The  rest  were  his. 


382  JAMES  HALL 

their  annual  reports.  Year  by  year  these  contribu- 
tions became  larger  until  they  constituted  the  prin- 
cipal part  of  the  reports  and  certainly  added  worth 
and  perpetuity  to  them.  The  "  Cabinet "  grew  out 
of  the  Natural  History  Survey.  On  the  representa- 
tions of  Dr.  Emmons  and  Hall,  two  or  three  small 
rooms  originally  were  set  aside  in  the  old  Capitol 
for  the  reception  of  these  "  natural  curiosities  " 
and  very  soon  after,  their  custody  was  transferred 
to  the  Regents,  who  appointed  John  Washington 
Taylor  the  first  custodian  of  the  State  collections. 
He  was  soon  followed  by  John  Gebhard,  Jr.  of 
Schoharie,  in  the  early  fifties.  Gebhard  was  an 
indefatigable  collector  and  the  collections  soon  out- 
grew their  little  rooms  in  the  Capitol.  They  were 
then  transferred  to  the  Old  State  Hall  at  the  cor- 
ner of  State  and  Lodge  streets  and  assigned  space 
among  the  administrative  offices.  The  Regents  and 
the  Legislature  both  recognized  that  this  arrange- 
ment was  not  greatly  for  the  better  and,  in  1855. 
when  Myron  H.  Clark  was  Governor,  provision 
was  made  for  the  remodeling  of  the  entire  building 
for  the  purposes  of  a  Museum  with  necessary 
offices  and  lecture  halls.  This  was  done  and,  as  we 
have  already  had  occasion  to  observe,  the  building 
was  duly  dedicated  as  the  "  Geological  Hall "  and 
at  once  became  the  most  impressive  State  building 
for  science  in  the  country,  housing  a  museum 
already  grown  to  special  excellence  in  geology  and 


RAPHAEL  PUMPELLY  383 

palaeontology.  Mr  Gebhard,  to  whom  very  great 
credit  belongs  for  the  growth  and  development  of 
the  "  Cabinet  "  during  this  period,  presently  retired 
with  the  published  appreciative  thanks"  of  the  Re- 
gents and  amid  thunderstorms  of  denunciation  in 
Hall's  letters  to  Lincklaen,  Leavenworth,  Martin 
B.  Anderson 7  and  John  Seymour,8  and  he  was 
followed  by  Hall's  collector  and  devoted  admirer, 
Colonel  Ezekiel  Jewett.  Colonel  Jewett  was  suf- 
fused with  zeal  for  the  welfare  of  the  "  Cabinet " ; 
he  was  not  only  a  great  collector  but  an  expert  stu- 
dent, though  he  lacked  something  of  the  sense  of 
order  necessary  to  a  good  curator.9  Colonel  Jewett 
came  in  1857  and  in  a  few  years  Hall,  with  large 
ideas  of  what  a  scientific  Museum  should  be,  had 
become  impatient  with  him,  until  at  last  in  1865  the 
Colonel  gave  it  up.  Meanwhile  Mr  Hall  had  per- 

7  President  of  Rochester  University. 

8  Brother  of  Governor  Horatio-  Seymour. 

*  Raphael  Pumpelly,  in  his  delightful  volumes  of  "  Reminiscences," 
(1918)  tells  of  how  he  owed  to  Colonel  Jewett  advice  which  made 
a  turning  point  in  his  career.  Pumpelly  had  returned  to  his  home 
at  Owego,  N.  Y.,  after  six  years  of  study  and  desultory  roaming 
among  the  high  spots  of  Europe  and  with  no  immediate  aim  or 
objective  in  mind  came  to  Albany  to  visit  an  uncle,  Harmon  Pum- 
pelly. Stopping  in  at  the  "  Cabinet "  to  see  the  Colonel,  he  learned 
from  him  of  a  mining  enterprise  in  the  savage  parts  of  the  far 
southwest  in  which  Mr  Wrightson  of  Albany  was  interested  and 
who  was  seeking  for  a  competent  and  courageous  mining  expert  to 
go  there.  Mr  Pumpelly  went,  escaped  with  his  life  and  initiated 
the  chain  of  circumstances  which  sent  him  to  Japan  and  thus  intro- 
duced him  to  his  extended  acquaintance  with  the  Orient.  Mr 
Wrightson  himself  also  went,  but  was  killed  by  the  Indians. 


384  JAMES  HALL 

sistently  urged  upon  the  Board  of  Regents  and  his 
friends  in  the  legislature,  plans  for  enlarging  the 
scope  of  the  Cabinet  and  in  1865,  in  response  to  a 
request  of  the  Legislature,  they  transmitted  a  most 
carefully  elaborated  project  for  such  reorganiza- 
tion. The  Secretary  of  the  Board,  Dr.  Samuel  B. 
Woolworth,  sent  out  the  legislative  resolution, 
with  a  request  for  suggestions  and  advice,  to  a 
number  of  scientific  men  of  distinction,  Mr  Hall's 
colleagues  and  friends;  and  among  those  who  re- 
plied at  great  length  were  James  D.  Dana,  who 
specially  recommended  the  establishment  of  "a 
School  for  Palaeontology  at  Albany  " ;  Sir  William 
Logan  jointly  with  T.  Sterry  Hunt;  Alexander 
Winchell,  Oren  Root,  Alexander  Agassiz  on  behalf 
of  his  father;  Franklin  B.  Hough,  Augustus  A. 
Gould,  J.  J.  Thomas,  the  Quaker  botanist  of  Union 
Springs;  and  finally  and  at  great  length,  Mr  Hall 
himself.  Hall's  was  the  pertinent  plan  of  a  man 
who  understood  the  significance  and  the  handling 
of  great  collections,  who  saw  the  eminent  propriety 
of  keeping  the  New  York  State  Cabinet  paramount 
in  geological  sciences,  who  demanded  large  oppor- 
tunities for  the  publication  of  scientific  researches 
and,  taking  as  his  model  the  Museum  of  Compara- 
tive Zoology,  at  Cambridge,  had  no  fear  of  boldly 
stating  the  financial  requirements  of  his  plan.  Mr 
Hall  had  to  deal  with  men  of  the  finest  ideals  in 
statesmanship;  Reuben  E.  Fenton,  the  Governor, 


THE  STATE  MUSEUM  385 

was  Chairman  of  the  special  Committee  charged 
with  this  matter ;  John  V.  L.  Pruyn  was  Chancellor 
of  the  Board,  Erastus  Corning,  J.  Carson  Brevoort, 
Judge  Alexander  S.  Johnson,  Victor  M.  Rice  the 
Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  and  George 
W.  Clinton  an  expert  botanist  as  well  as  Regent. 

The  result  of  this  well  conceived  plan  of  pro- 
cedure was  direct  and  immediate;  Mr  Hall  was 
made  "  Curator  "  of  the  State  Cabinet  in  January 
1865  and  was  authorized  to  carry  out  the  plan  for  a 
Museum  as  he  had  proposed  it  and  this  action  was 
supported  by  increased  legislative  appropriations. 

Mr  Hall  was  now  in  the  saddle  as  the  official  head 
of  two  recognized  State  departments  of  science, 
each  contributory  to  the  other,  both  contributing  to 
the  same  end,  but  each  absolutely  independent  in 
responsibility. 

By  virtue  of  statute  the  "  Cabinet "  became,  in 
1871,  a  "  Museum  of  Scientific  and  Practical 
Geology  and  General  Natural  History,"  and  Hall 
became  its  Director.  The  plans  were  laid  on  large 
lines,  and  Hall  now  entirely  controlled  the  annual 
reports;  but  the  initiation  of  the  new  undertaking 
was  not  very  impressive.  Mr  Whitfield  was 
charged  with  the  arrangement  of  the  geological 
collections;  Charles  H.  Peck,  an  Albany  teacher 
who  had  been  contributing  important  botanical 
papers  to  the  reports,  was  made  the  botanical  as- 
sistant, eventually  to  become  the  State  Botanist  and 

25 


386  JAMES  HALL 

to  render  an  immortal  service  to  his  State ;  Joseph 
A.  Lintner  was  the  general  clerical  aid  and  he  in 
after  years  rendered  good  return  in  the  capacity  of 
State  Entomologist.  The  cost  of  running  this  Mu- 
seum in  the  first  year  of  the  new  regime  was 
$2119.91. 

The  new  administration  of  the  "  Cabinet " 
started  bravely  and  by  the  chance  of  events  won 
immediate  public  attention.  Some  of  its  early 
affairs  still  retain  their  touch  upon  us  and  on  the 
personalities  of  this  generation.  In  September 
1866,  T.  G.  Younglove,  an  official. of  the  Harmony 
Mills  at  Cohoes,  N.  Y.,  a  place  where  a  diminished 
postglacial  Mohawk  River  pours  in  cascade  over 
the  upturned  strata  of  the  "  Hudson  River  "  shale, 
writes  to  announce  the  discovery  of  a  great  pothole 
in  the  rocks  encountered  in  the  course  of  some  exca- 
vations being  made  for  new  foundations  and  in- 
vites Hall  to  come  up  and  see  the  curious  things  that 
were  being  taken  out  of  it.  Hall  paid  no  attention 
to  the  letter.  In  a  few  days  another  comes  telling 
of  the  finding  of  a  lower  jaw  "  of  some  unknown 
beast "  lying  on  a  ledge  of  rock  projecting  into  the 
great  hole.  Hall  went;  the  company  enlisted  all 
needed  help  to  continue  the  excavation  to  the  bot- 
tom of  the  pit,  and  there  were  uncovered  pretty 
much  the  entire  remains  of  a  great  skeleton.  Thus 
was  born  the  remarkable  Cohoes  mastodon;  re- 
markable for  its  perfection  of  skeleton,  for  its  ex- 


The  Cohoes  Mastodon,  as  set  up  in  the  old  Geological  Hall. 
In  front,  from  left  to  right,  are  Grove  K.  Gilbert,  James 
Hall,  Jr.,  M.D.,  and  Edwin  E.  Howell.  (By  courtesy  of 
Prof.  W.  M.  Davis.) 


Bottom  of  the  pot-hole  in  which  the  Cohoes  Mastodon  was  found. 
James  Hall  with  hammer  in  hand. 


GROVE    K.    GILBERT  387 

traordinary  malformed  dentition  and  above  all  for 
its  mode  of  preservation : —  the  bony  remains  of  a 
carcass  floated  down  in  the  high  postglacial  waters 
and  caught  in  the  eddy  of  the  great  pit.  The 
skeleton,  buried  at  a  depth  of  about  seventy  feet, 
was  exhumed  and  presented  to  the  museum  by  the 
president  of  the  company,  Mr  Alfred  Wild.  In 
the  delicate  work  of  removing,  preserving  and 
mounting  these  bones,  Hall  called  on  Henry  A. 
Ward,  of  Rochester  for  help,  and  in  response  a 
young  man  was  sent  down  from  the  Ward  estab- 
lishment named  Karl  Gilbert,  one  of  his  assistants, 
doubly  endowed  with  a  zest  for  natural  science  and 
the  necessity  of  making  a  living.  Together  Hall 
and  young  Gilbert  supervised  this  difficult  disin- 
terment,  until  Hall  took  a  tumble  in  the  deep  pit, 
wrenched  his  hip,  resumed  his  crutches  and  left 
the  work  to  Gilbert  alone.  Mr  Gilbert  mounted 
the  mastodon  in  the  Geological  Hall  and  helped  to 
erect  within  the  public  eye  a  palaeontological  monu- 
ment to  himself.  In  this  way  Grove  Karl  Gilbert, 
who  was  to  become  a  distinguished  figure  in  philo- 
sophical geology,  made  his  entry  into  the  science. 
Soon  after  this  we  find  Gilbert  restoring  the  miss- 
ing tails  for  the  Irish  Elks  in  the  museums  at 
Albany  and  Columbia,  but  we  catch  a  better  glimpse 
of  the  trend  of  his  real  interests  in  the  study  which 
he  made,  to  arrive  at  the  geological  age  of  the 
Cohoes  mastodon,  based  on  the  rate  of  retreat  of  the 


388  JAMES  HALL 

shale  cliffs  of  the  Mohawk  valley  under  the  compli- 
cated processes  of  weathering.  This  he  did  by  cut- 
ting off  projecting  cedar  roots  from  the  cliff  faces, 
counting  their  growth  rings  and  establishing  a 
ratio  between  the  length  of  the  root  and  the  age 
of  the  tree;  the  former  factor  representing  the 
minimum  amount  of  retreat  of  the  cliff  face.  It 
was  a  novel  and  clever  calculation  and  it  was  pub- 
lished with  Hall's  elaborate  account  of  the  masto- 
don and  its  surroundings  in  the  report  of  the  Cab- 
inet. The  Cohoes  skeleton  was  a  fine  acquisition 
for  the  new  museum,  for  next  to  the  great  skeleton 
taken  by  Dr.  Warren  from  the  bogs  of  Newburgh, 
N.  Y.,  it  was  then  the  best  of  its  kind,  while  its 
mode  of  preservation  was  and  remains  unique. 

The  very  first  act  of  the  new  Curator  of  the 
"  Cabinet  "  was  the  acquisition  of  Dr.  Augustus  A. 
Gould's  collection  of  recent  mollusks  and  this  act 
was  a  demonstration  of  Hall's  devotion  of  his 
influence  to  friends  in  need.  Though  the  merit  and 
worth  of  the  collection  on  which  Dr.  Gould  had 
based  his  lifetime  researches  were  high,  yet  to  a 
scientific  museum  seeking  to  commend  itself  to 
public  interest,  it  lacked  everything  of  conspicuous 
character.  But  to  this  friend  and  counselor  of  long 
years  Hall  and  his  work  owed  much.  Again  and 
again  Gould's  advice,  his  rebukes,  his  encourage- 
ment had  served  to  keep  the  excitable  and  erratic 
geologist  true  to  his  objective.  Doctor  Gould  died 


REBUKE  FROM  GOULD  389 

in  the  autumn  of  1865.  The  two  had  been  to- 
gether in  the  summer  at  Northampton  for  the  meet- 
ing of  the  American  Association,  and  among  the 
last  of  his  letters  is  one  filled  with  that  unfailing 
counsel  always  so  much  needed  by  its  recipient, 
though  perhaps  too  seldom  accepted.  He  writes  in 
part  (February  26,  1865),  and  this  is  obviously  a 
reply  to  a  cumulative  outburst  from  a  man  frenzied 
by  some  fancied  attack  of  lese  masjeste : 

"  I  was  pained  at  your  doleful  view  of  everything.  It 
is  true  that  the  man  of  Science  is  likely  in  most  instances, 
unless  he  makes  Science  a  mere  trade,  to  find  his  resources 
scanty  and  precarious,  and  his  rainy  days  may  be  very  rainy. 
So  too  the  state  of  the  country  is  bad  enough,  but  it  is  not 
ruined,  nor  is  it  likely  to  be.  Now,  my  friend,  it  is  of  no 
use,  this  croaking.  It  makes  yourself  unhappy  and  your 
friends  unhappy  and  sometimes  provoked.  The  man  who 
persistently  and  stoutly  and  even  offensively  denounces 
everything  about  his  country,  his  friends  and  his  science,  is 
not  likely  to  be  very  graciously  dealt  with  when  better  times 
come.  The  mass  of  the  people  is  generally  right,  and  why 
not  throw  yourself  into  the  current  rather  than  fruitlessly 
struggle  against  it  ?  Come,  cheer  up,  keep  friends  and  make 
friends,  and  make  the  end  of  a  useful  honorable  life  grate- 
ful. The  pursuit  of  science  is  itself  a  reward  and  a  solace 
which  no  money  can  supply  the  place  of.  We  are  too  old 
to  quarrel  with  anybody  or  to  persist  in  remembering  old 
feuds.  We  are  soon  going,  and  we  shall  wind  up  our  lives 
more  gracefully  and  satisfactorily  if  we  can  feel  at  peace 
with  all.  We  have  no  further  any  occasion  for  rivalry  or 
jealousy.  Our  seed  has  been  sown,  we  have  labored  and 
sweat  through  the  day,  we  have  garnered  our  fruits,  and 


390  JAMES  HALL 

now  we  have  to  be  content  with  tribute  from  our  granary  and 
the  few  gleanings  which  infirmity  will  allow.  The  younger 
will  plant  on  our  ground,  and  if  they  can  gain  better  crops, 
as  they  ought  to,  from  soil  subdued  by  ourselves,  let  them 
do  it." 

Gould  was  much  loved  by  his  select  circle  of 
Boston  friends  and  Hall  felt  his  loss  very  keenly. 
He  says  of  him,  writing  to  Miss  Gould :  "  The  long 
years  of  uninterrupted  friendship  had  endeared 
him  to  me  as  no  other  friend  among  my  colleagues, 
always  the  true-hearted  gentleman  and  the  kind- 
hearted  Christian." 

The  first  contributions  of  notable  scientific  merit 
made  to  the  annual  reports  of  the  "  State  Cabinet 
of  Natural  History  and  the  Historical  and  Anti- 
quarian Collection  Annexed  Thereto/'  were  upon 
the  ethnology  of  the  New  York  Indians  and  were 
prepared,  at  the  request  of  the  Regents,  by  Lewis 
H.  Morgan.  These  papers  in  the  early  reports 
were  beautifully  illustrated  in  colors  and  are  of 
intrinsic  interest  today  in  addition  to  the  fact  that 
they  constitute  the  first  scientific  writings  by  the 
founder  of  American  Ethnology  and  the  author  of 
the  League  of  the  Iroquois.  "  Lewis  H.  Morgan 
Hall,"  in  the  present  State  Museum,  commemorates 
not  only  the  distinguished  merit  of  Morgan's  work 
but  his  interest  in  the  early  progress  of  the  institu- 
tion. In  Mr.  Morgan's  career.  Mr.  Hall  played  a 
helpful  part.  With  a  letter  from  a  citizen  of 


LEWIS  H.  MORGAN  391 

Aurora,  N.  Y.,  George  B.  Glendining,  presenting 
him  as  a  "  counsellor-at-law  from  this  place " 
Mr.  Morgan  came  to  Mr.  Hall  in  1844.  He  was  in- 
terested in  the  Iroquois,  historically  and  as  wards 
of  the  State  (as  they  were  then  held  to  be)  and 
Hall  introduced  Mr.  Morgan  to  the  Regents  of  the 
University  whom  he  favorably  impressed  with  a 
suggestion  to  contribute  to  their  reports.  Follow- 
ing these  early  contributions,  Morgan  began  his 
elaborate  work  on  the  History  of  the  American 
Beaver  to  which  many  of  his  letters  of  this  period 
relate.  In  1868  Mr.  Morgan  became  a  member  of 
the  State  Senate  and  in  a  letter  introducing  Hall 
to  an  influential  friend  he  writes  (1867) : 

"  It  gives  me  much  pleasure  to  introduce  to  you  Pro- 
fessor James  Hall.  He  has,  out  of  sheer  devotion  to  the 
scientific  interests  of  the  State,  consented  to  take  charge  of 
the  State  Cabinet  of  Natural  History  and  Geology  in  the 
hope  that  a  new  impulse  might  be  given  to  these  collections 
and  to  the  scientific  interests  of  the  State  with  which  they 
are  so  intimately  connected.  You  and  I  know  that  every 
dollar  expended  for  scientific  purposes  ,is  so  much  saved 
from  the  harpies.  I  know  that  it  will  give  you  the  highest 
pleasure  to  cooperate  with  one  who  has  performed  so  dis- 
tinguished a  work  for  American  science  and  whose  views 
and  plans  are  entitled  to  the  highest  consideration." 

We  should  not  pass  away  from  these  early  days 
of  the  Museum  without  some  further  reference  to 
George  W.  Clinton,  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Re- 
gents. Judge  Clinton  was  devoted  to  the  study  of 


392  JAMES  HALL 

botany  and  the  collection  of  the  New  York  flora; 
in  fact  he  contributed  papers  of  botanical  interest 
to  the  annual  reports.  He  made  the  new  departure 
in  the  Museum  a  matter  of  personal  concern;  he 
was  largely  responsible  for  the  engagement  of 
Charles  H.  Peck  in  1866,  to  work  on  the  Herbar- 
ium and  he  took  every  advantage  of  his  larger 
influence  to  extend  Mr.  Hall's  authority.  "  Work, 
then,  my  friend,"  he  writes  (1867),  "the  fate  of 
the  State  Cabinet  is  in  your  hands  —  Herbaria, 
Mastodon  and  all.  Work,  and  all  will  be  well." 
But  Hall  was  not  disposed  to  work.  Just  then,  in 
trying  to  put  through  the  larger  plan  for  the  Mu- 
seum, something  had  fallen  across  his  path  and  he 
was  engaged  in  telling  Clinton  about  it.  Two  days 
after  the  foregoing  letter  from  Judge  Clinton 
comes  another : 

"  I  have  no  doubt  that  when  your  very  natural  irritation 
has  subsided,  you  will  fall  back  upon  your  great  qualities  and 
join  in  putting  this  great  thing  through.  ...  A  man 
is  greatest  when,  for  great  public  ends,  he  submits  to  insult 
and  misconstruction.  Time  will  rectify  all  those  things,  and 
add  to  his  glory." 

Miscellanies. 

Mrs.  Hall  and  her  daughter  Josephine,  then  a 
charming  young  woman  of  twenty,  had  spent  the 
winter  of  1861  in  Europe,  a  country  Hall  himself 
had  to  wait  years  yet  to  see.  Going  and  returning 


SIR  JAMES  ANDERSON  393 

they  had  come  under  the  watchful  oversight  of  Cap- 
tain James  Anderson,  skipper  of  the  Cunard  Line 
sidewheeler  "  Europa  "  whose  American  port  was 
Boston.  Captain  Anderson  was  a  very  remark- 
able character.  Trained  to  the  sea  and  to  naviga- 
tion from  his  boyhood  he  was  possessed  of  an 
intense  love  for  nature  and  her  works  which  he 
pursued  with  the  ardor  of  a  great  and  devoted 
heart.  His  personality  was  charming;  he  sought, 
made  and  kept  friendship  with  all  men  of  science 
who  traveled  on  his  craft,  and  his  was  the  craft 
that  such  choice  spirits  sought  because  of  him.  In 
port  at  Boston,  he  was  at  home  with  Agassiz,  Cot- 
ting,  Gould  and  Dr.  Walker,  attended  the  Boston 
Society's  meetings ;  or  when  the  American  port  was 
New  York  he  would  go  to  New  Haven  to  visit  the 
Sillimans  and  Dana.  Murchison  and  Sedgwick 
were  his  friends;  Capellini  was  his  ward  aboard 
ship.  He  loved  children  and  was  tremendously 
interested  in  the  establishment  of  the  Free  Museum 
in  Liverpool. 

His  courtesy  to  Mrs.  Hall  evoked  a  letter  of  ap- 
preciation from  Hall  to  the  Captain  and  this  led 
to  a  long  discursive  correspondence  which  con- 
tinued for  several  years  until  at  last  Anderson  came 
on  to  Albany  to  see  the  great  Palaeontologist  and 
his  collections.  Together  they  tramped  the  Helder- 
bergs,  knocking  out  its  fossils,  the  skipper,  filled 
with  a  knowledge  of  the  life  of  the  sea,  interpreting 


394  JAMES  HALL 

the  past  in  the  light  of  the  present.     Then  they 
visited  the  valley  of  the  Schoharie,  and  for  some 
years  after  Captain  Anderson's  letters  are  alive 
with  keen  recollections  of  this  visit.     He  had  Mr. 
Hall's  young  son  Edward  gather  frogs,  toads  and 
pollywogs  to  exhibit  in  the  Liverpool  Museum  and 
for  a  long  time  he  kept  up  this  exhibit  in  the  name 
of  the  boy.    These  were  Civil  War  days  and  the 
Englishman's  long  letters  are  rather  frankly  sym- 
pathetic with  the  South  —  views  which  were  prob- 
ably not  wholly  unwelcome  to  Hall  who  was  a  tre- 
mendous "  copperhead."  When  Cyrus  W.  Field  was 
looking  for  a  competent  man  to  lay  the  Atlantic 
Cable  he  went  to  Anderson  who  was  then  in  com- 
mand of  the   China.     He  was  regarded  on  all 
hands  as  the  most  competent  shipmaster  in  the 
English  service.    "  He  had  long  been  known  to  the 
travelling  public  both  of  England  and  America," 
says  Henry  M.  Field  in  his  Story  of  the  Atlantic 
Cable,  "  and  no  one  ever  crossed  the  sea  with  him 
without  the  strongest  feeling  for  his  manly  and 
seamanly  qualities;  a  thorough  master  of  his  pro- 
fession having  followed  the  sea  for  a  quarter  of  a 
century.    He  was  also  a  man  of  much  general  in- 
telligence and  .of  no  small  scientific  attainments." 
In   1865   Captain  Anderson  took  charge  of  the 
Great  Eastern,  after  many  catastrophes  succeeding 
in  1867  in  successfully  laying  the  Cable.    For  this 
service  he  was  knighted  and  in   1870  Josephine 


CIVIL  WAR  395 

Hall  and  her  brother  Edward  visited  Sir  James 
in  London  where  he  kept  a  geological  museum  in 
his  house  for  which  he  was  ever  seeking  more 
fossils.  He  had  now  become  manager  of  the  Sub- 
marine Telegraph  Companies  to  India.  "  I  have 
9000  miles  of  submarine  cable  and  £2,500,000 
under  my  management  and  this  keeps  me  busy" 
—  but  he  nevertheless  wants  more  fossils  and  sug- 
gests that  some  money  Hall  had  borrowed  of  him  in 
the  dark  days  of  five  years  back  might  be  returned 
in  fossil  footprints.  On  Professor  Hall's  visits  to 
Europe  in  1872  and  1878,  these  friends  saw  much 
of  each  other  (Anderson  was  then  the  head  of  the 
Eastern  Telegraph  Company)  and  for  many  years 
after  my  arrival  in  Albany,  Hall  was  wearing  a 
gray  plaid  top  coat  —  then  changed  to  a  mouldy 
green  —  which  Sir  James  Anderson  had  given  him. 

The  Civil  War. 

The  dark  years  from  1861-65  seem  to  have 
brought  little  disturbance  to  Mr.  Hall's  scientific 
work  and  no  readjustments  were  required  except  in 
the  increased  contract  prices  for  his  printing.  We 
have  intimated  that  Hall  was  not  very  sympathetic 
with  the  aims  of  the  North  and  though  he  did  not 
often  make  his  war  views  the  subject  of  his  letters, 
there  were  occasional  outbursts  from  him  that  may 
as  well  escape  publication.  I  think  this  attitude  was 
largely  due  to  the  unavoidable  disorder  that  fell 


396  JAMES  HALL 

upon  the  South  wherein  were  proceeding  scientific 
surveys  and  investigations  in  which  he  was  deeply 
interested. 

In  1858,  Dr.  Ebenezer  Emmons  had  left  New 
York  and  gone  to  North  Carolina  to  conduct  its 
Geological  Survey  and  the  distress  caused  by  the 
oncoming  war,  unquestionably  brought  his  death  in 
1863;  his  work  was  suspended  and  his  manuscripts 
in  most  part  destroyed.  Governor  Sam  Houston 
suspended  the  Texas  Survey  in  1861  and  Benjamin 
F.  Shumard,  for  whom  Hall  had  secured  the  posi- 
tion of  State  Geologist,  was  sent  adrift.  Swallow 
writes  from  Missouri  (1862)  where  General  Fre- 
mont had  put  the  State  under  martial  law :  "  They 
have  carried  my  maps  into  the  army  and  taken  pos- 
session of  my  office  and  cabinet  room  for  the 
quarters  of  soldiers  and  officers.  I  know  not  how 
much  I  can  save."  Safford,  of  Tennessee,  a  man 
of  most  exceptional  qualifications  as  a  palaeon- 
tologist and  whom  Hall  had  invited  to  join  him  in 
preparing  his  monograph  of  the  Brachiopoda, 
writes  that  the  distressing  political  conditions  for- 
bid any  thought  of  the  matter.  "  I  trust  before 
long,  under  God,  the  dark  cloud  which  hangs  over 
our  country  may  be  removed."  Doctor  John  S. 
Newberry,  who  had  returned  from  his  Colorado 
Survey  and  was  interested  with  Hall  in  the  fossil 
plants  of  Ohio,  abandoned  them,  promptly  joined 
the  United  States  Sanitary  Commission  at  the  out- 


CARL  ROMINGER  397 

break  of  the  war  and  there  remained  until  its  end. 
On  the  other  hand,  in  prosperous  Michigan  an  effort 
was  afoot  in  1862  to  revive  the  Geological  Survey 
of  the  State.  Alexander  Winchell  mentions  this 
project  to  Hall  late  that  year  and  asks  him  for  en- 
dorsement to  the  Governor  which  is  given  cordially 
and  unsparingly. 

As  far  back  as  1849,  there  came  to  Albany  with 
a  letter  of  introduction  from  Barrande,  an  Alsatian 
named  Carl  Rominger,  a  doctor  of  medicine  and  a 
lover  of  all  science.  He  was  from  the  University 
of  Tubingen  and  had  tramped  with  Barrande  over 
the  Bohemian  mountains.  He  had  not  come  to 
America  to  stay  but  when  in  his  travels  he  had  got 
as  far  as  Ann  Arbor  his  money  gave  out  and  he 
was  obliged  to  establish  himself  there  in  the  prac- 
tice of  medicine.  In  these  later  years,  still  intensely 
devoted  to  his  rocks  and  fossils,  his  relations  with 
Hall  were  renewed  and  lasted  long.  Doctor  Ro- 
minger was  later  to  become  the  State  Geologist  of 
Michigan  and  to  do  a  work  on  the  fossil  corals  of 
her  old  rocks  which  has  not  been  surpassed  and 
which  stands  out  by  itself  among  the  official  reports 
of  that  State.  He  was  a  gentle  spirit  with  micro- 
scopic eyes  and  analytic  brain;  of  the  older  type 
whose  names  still  stand  for  excellent  achievements ; 
and  when  long  years  afterwards  the  venerable 
Albany  palaeontologist,  struggling  over  the  in- 
tricacies of  the  fossil  Bryozoa,  cried  out  for  help 


398  JAMES  HALL 

to  Rominger,  declaring  in  his  bewilderment  that  he 
did  not  care  whether  "  the  pesky  things  were  called 
Chaetetes  or  cucumbers,"  Dr.  Rominger  came  on 
from  Ann  Arbor  full  of  concern  for  what  he  called 
his  Shytaytays,  and  stood  by  in  the  preparation  of 
the  monograph  which  was  to  be  Volume  VI  of  the 
Palaeontology. 

In  1865  Herman  Credner,  a  young  geologist  of 
Bonn,  came  to  Hall  with  a  letter  of  introduction 
from  Professor  Roemer  and  besought  him  to  "  help 
me  to  get  a  position  suitable  for  a  young  geologist." 
He  had  come  to  acquaint  himself  with  American 
geology  in  the  hope  of  attaining  to  a  university 
professorship  (as  he  did  eventually  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Leipsig)  and  he  presently  secured  em- 
ployment in  New  York  with  a  firm  of  mining  en- 
gineers, in  the  intervals  of  his  time  preparing  a 
geological  survey  and  map  of  New  York  City 
which  he  published  in  Germany.  Soon  after  Cred- 
ner was  engaged  by  Raphael  Pumpelly  to  assist  on 
his  Northern  Transcontinental  Survey. 

John  J.  Bigsby  sends  a  cheering  word  from  Port- 
man  Square  (1867): 

"  I  need  not  tell  you  how  mightily  and  how  certainly  you 
have  advanced  Palaeozoic  zoology  and  what  a  poor  display 
this  branch  of  natural  history  would  make  if  the  sun  had 
not  risen  upon  a  James  Hall." 

When  Hall  sent  out  his  own  and  Sir  William 
Dawson's  papers  on  Devonian  plants,  he  received 


VERNEUIL  ON  UPLIFTS  399 

from  the  Count  de  Verneuil  a  letter  of  acknowledg- 
ment which  has  some  comment  of  historical  inter- 
est. It  is  printed,  as  written,  in  the  Count's  own 
patter  (March  28,  1864)  : 

"  Your  paper  on  the  Devonian  flora  is  also  of  the  utmost 
interest,  for  the  resemblances  it  has  with  the  Carboniferous, 
but  though  the  genera  in  both  formations  are  about  the 
same,  the  species  are  different,  and  confirm  the  conclusions 
derived  from  our  anterior  study  of  the  animal  kingdom. 
This  is  a  very  interesting  point,  as  in  America  you  have  not 
great  dislocations  between  Devon  and  Carboniferous  era. 
In  Europe  the  dislocations  pointed  out  by  El.  de  Beaumont 
do  not  exist  in  many  cases.  Generally  speaking  the  great 
epochs  of  soulevement  as  they  were  established  by  El.  de 
Beaumont  are  in  complete  abandon.  It  has  been  proved  that 
the  soulevement  des  Pyrenees  referred  to  the  interval  of 
time  between  the  chalk  and  the  first  tertiary  deposits  is 
posterior  to  the  Eocene  or  the  Nummulitic,  but  El.  de  Beau- 
mont has  referred  to  that  epoch  the  soulevement  of  Corsica 
and  Sardinia.  If  he  is  right,  we  have  two  ridges  of  eleva- 
tions quite  unparalleled  [i.  e.  not  parallel]  and  contemporane- 
ous. The  great  principe  of  El.  de  Beaumont's  theory  is 
then  contradicted  by  the  facts.  The  principe  is  that  the 
soulevements  operated  in  the  same  epoch  or  contemporane- 
ous are  always  parallel.  It  has  been  proved  that  the  facts 
upon  which  El.  de  Beaumont  had  founded  his  soulevement 
des  Alpes  occidentals  are  equally  wrong.  Mr.  Desor  has 
showed  that  the  beds  of  conglomerate  inclined,  said  by  El. 
de  Beaumont  ancient  alluvions,  at  the  foot  of  the  Alps,  are 
much  older  and  belong  to  the  Miocene  Molasse.  If  so,  the 
western  Alps  have  been  elevated  at  the  same  epoch  as  the 
eastern  Alps,  and  however  they  affect  a  very  different 
direction. 


400  JAMES  HALL 

I  see  that  in  America  your  geologists  do  not  pretend  to 
classify  the  ranges  of  mountains  only  by  their  directions.  I 
am  convinced  that  they  are  right,  and  that  mountainous 
ranges  may  have  been  elevated  at  the  same  epochs  though 
they  have  not  the  same  strike." 

Mr  Whitfield,  who  had  come  to  Hall  as  a  drafts- 
man, had  rapidly  developed  into  an  investigator 
and  was  growing  uneasy  over  the  restraints  of  his 
position.  In  1865  he  applied  to  Dr.  Newberry  at 
Columbia  College  for  association  with  him  and 
Hall  began  to  look  about  for  someone  else  to  illus- 
trate his  publications.  F.  W.  Putnam  suggests 
that  Hall  try  to  get  a  fellow  student  of  his  at  Cam- 
bridge, Edward  S.  Morse  of  Gorham,  Me.,  and 
Hall  (1865)  offers  him  the  position,  which  is  at 
once  accepted;  but  Morse  has  scarcely  given  his 
assent  when  he  receives  an  offer  of  the  professor- 
ship of  Natural  History  at  Bowdoin  College  and 
is  obliged  to  ask  his  release  from  his  promise.  One 
can  but  wonder  what  might  have  been  the  course 
of  palaeontology  in  America  had  this  brilliant 
spirit  brought  his  skill  and  vision  to  its  service ;  or 
what  would  have  been  the  loss  to  America  in  its 
knowledge  of  Oriental  ceramics;  what  even  the 
fate  of  his  important  researches  upon  Brachiopoda, 
with  which  he  was  then  engaged  and  of  his  spec- 
tacular demonstration  that  they  are  worms;  of 
which  interpretation  he  soon  writes :  "  Professor 
Steenstrup  of  Copenhagen  endorses  my  brachio- 


EDWARD  ORTON  401 

pod  views  and  tells  me  he  has  taught  them  to  his 
students  for  a  long  time." 

Professor  Hall's  relations  with  Edward  Orton 
seem  to  have  originated  in  1867  while  Orton  was 
stationed  at  Antioch  College,  Yellow  Springs,  Ohio, 
in  an  effort  to  bring  together  a  collection  for  that 
institution.  The  next  year  Hall  endorses  Orton  to 
the  Governor  of  Ohio  for  a  position  on  the  new 
Geological  Survey  under  Dr.  Newberry.  Orton 
writes  to  tell  Hall  that  his  letter  was  effective  and 
his  appointment  has  been  received :  "  I  recognize 
my  obligations  to  you  and  will  be  glad  to  pay  them 
if  you  will  allow  me  a  chance  to  do  so."  And  a 
little  later,  when  Hall  is  complaining  of  ill  health: 
"  I  sincerely  hope  that  a  vacation  will  restore  you 
to  a  place  that  no  one  else  can  fill."  It  is  a  long 
reach  from  these  beginnings  of  Professor  Orton's 
important  career  to  its  closing  labors  which  were 
spent  in  the  service  of  New  York.10 

10  Edward  Orton's  life  was  one  of  singular  beauty  which  greatly 
endeared  him  to  his  contemporaries.  Born  in  the  country  village  of 
Deposit,  N.  Y.,  he  entered  the  ministry  and  assumed  a  pastoral 
charge,  and  though  he  afterward  thought  it  well  to  resign  the  min- 
istry, it  will  be  remembered  by  many  that  to  his  latest  years  he  wore 
its  badge  of  office  —  a  white  cravat.  Professor  Orton  then  became 
a  teacher  of  science  in  the  Albany  Normal  School  and  shortly  after 
leaving  Albany  removed  to  Ohio  where  we  find  him  active  in  teach- 
ing science  at  Antioch  College  of  which  he  became  president. 
Thereafter  he  became  president  of  the  Ohio  State  University  and 
State  Geologist  of  Ohio  and  in  his  last  year  President  of  the 
American  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science.  To  his 
remarkable  labors'  for  the  State  of  New  York  after  he  had  become 
crippled  on  one  side  by  paralysis,  a  later  reference  is  here  made. 
26 


402  JAMES  HALL 

Sir  Archibald  Geikie  says  that  in  Caithness,  along- 
the  flat  shore  reaches  of  the  coast,  the  roadways 
are  visible  for  so  long  distances  that  travelers  ap- 
proaching each  other  begin  their  welcoming  smiles 
while  they  are  yet  mere  specks  in  the  distance,  one 
to  the  other,  and  the  smiles  grow  to  their  climax 
as  the  wayfarers  meet  and  pass.  Thus  comes  the 
"  Caithness  smile  ",  which  emblazons  the  counte- 
nances of  these  North  Scots.  That  reminiscent 
geologist  intimates  that  the  broad  flat  rock  strata 
everywhere  yawning  on  the  shores  of  Caithness 
may  have  also  wrought  in  producing  this  smile.  I 
have  heard  an  eminent  scholar  who  "  favors  "  the 
Scotch,  though  himself  of  the  "  Heart  of  America  ", 
tell  of  overhearing  in  the  Edinburgh  railroad  sta- 
tion one  Scot  greeting  another  with  the  inquiry: 
"Well,  what  formation  are  ye  from?"  Among 
Hall's  many  admirers  there  was,  in  1861,  a  Method- 
ist minister,  the  Reverend  E.  G.  Bush,  whose 
various  parishes  were  not  in  villages  but  on  geo- 
logical formations.  His  letters  tell  of  his  present 
residence  on  the  Chemung  rocks,  but  that  in  his 
itinerant  life  he  had  before  dwelt  on  the  Hamilton, 
on  the  Catskill,  on  the  Portage,  the  Marcellus,  the 
Helderberg  and  on  the  Tully  formations;  and 
wherever  he  went,  along  with  his  bible,  his  sermons 
and  his  family,  he  took  his  Trilobites ! 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  PERIOD  OF  VOLUME  V— 1867-1878 

I 

Volume  IV  appears  —  The  Geological  Map  of  the  Northern 
States  —  The  "  Palaeontology  "  and  the  personnel  of 
its  workers  —  A  great  scientific  workshop  —  Hall's 
habits  of  work  —  His  many  assistants  —  Whitfield, 
White  and  Van  Deloo  —  Walcott's  collections  and  re- 
searches —  Beecher's  arrival  —  Callaway,  H.  H.  Smith, 
Henry  Herzer,  J.  S.  Kingsley,  L.  O.  Howard,  Fernald, 
E.  S.  Morse  —  Hall  and  Ramsay  on  the  Old  Red  Sand- 
stone of  the  Catskill  Mountains  —  The  Sherwoods, 
T.  B.  Brooks,  Theodore  Gill,  Ernest  Ingersoll,  Persifor 
Frazer  and  C.  F.  Holder  — Hall  lecturer  at  Cornell 
University  —  Other  college  positions  —  Chas.  Fred. 
Hartt ;  his  career  at  Cornell  and  in  Brazil  —  Intimate 
side  of  English  geologists  —  Bigsby's  letters  —  Story 
of  the  Cardiff  Giant. 

THE  majestic  Volume  IV  which  closed  and 
crowned  this  decade  slipped  quietly  into 
existence  without  comment,  at  least  in  its 
author's  letters.    The  preparation  of  his  "  Palaeon- 
tology" was  now  to  Hall  the  proper  and  normal 
routine  of  his  life.    For  it  he  lived;  he  did  not  de- 
bate it,  except  before  legislative  committees,  and 
then  debate  was  confined  to  the  committee;  Hall 
satisfied  himself  with  demands  for  appropriations. 

[403] 


404  JAMES  HALL 

This  volume  IV  was  an  impressive  biological  mono- 
graph of  428  pages  and  69  lithograph  plates  de- 
voted to  the  Brachiopoda  of  the  Devonian  System 
in  New  York.  It  was  different  from  its  predeces- 
sors in  that  it  dealt  with  a  single  biological  element 
of  a  great  fauna,  while  the  others  had  been  con- 
cerned with  all  the  elements  of  a  few  faunas.  For 
this  reason  the  appeal  of  the  new  book  was  more 
restricted  though  it  dealt  with  fossils  which  were 
scattered  broadcast  in  profusion  over  a  great  area. 
It  was  a  refined  and  stable  work  and  its  virtue 
still  holds. 

Among  Professor  Hall's  hopes,  still  nurtured  at 
this  time  but  doomed  to  disappointment,  was  his 
projected  Geological  Map  of  the  United  States.  He 
had  given  to  Sir  William  Logan's  great  Geological 
Map  of  Canada,  which  included  the  eastern  United 
States  (1868),  all  the  data  south  of  the  border,  but 
in  so  doing  he  felt,  and  rightly,  that,  in  taking 
advantage  of  an  opportunity  for  costly  printing 
which  he  could  not  himself  command,  he  had  let 
himself  be  eclipsed  by  the  distinguished  Canadian. 
Now  that  the  Logan  map  was  out  he  turned  back 
to  his  original  purpose.  Beyond  any  comparison 
Hall  was  the  best  equipped  man  in  America  to  pre- 
pare such  a  map;  his  personal  knowledge  was 
greater  and  his  understanding  of  the  correlation  of 
formations  more  trustworthy.  The  idea  took 
various  forms  at  different  times,  and  he  went  to 


GEOLOGICAL    MAP  405 

Professor  Henry  with  a  plan  which  covered  the 

"  northern  states  "  only: 

PROFESSOR  JOSEPH  HENRY 

SMITHSONIAN  INSTITUTION  April  18,  1868. 

Some  years  since  I  had  several  conversations  with  you 
relative  to  the  publication  of  a  Geological  map  of  the  North- 
ern States,  and  you  promised  me  the  aid  of  the  Smithsonian 
Institution  to  accomplish  the  object.  At  the  same  time 
Prof.  Bache  promised  aid  from  the  Coast  Survey  relative 
to  the  perfecting  of  the  map  in  its  geographical  details.  Sir 
William  Logan  has  been  for  many  years  preparing  a  geo- 
logical map  of  Canada  and  adjacent  parts  of  the  United 
States.  His  large  map  wjll  be  published  next  month.  To 
this  map  I  have  contributed  all  the  materials  collected  by 
myself  or  obtained  from  other  sources,  and  I  have  had  the 
promise  of  the  use  of  the  plates  for  my  own  map.  Now  I 
want  if  possible  to  finish  it  on  the  same  scale,  and  I  would 
like  to  know  if  I  can  get  any  help  from  the  Smithsonian  In- 
stitution affecting  both  Sir  William  Logan's  map  and  my 
own.  The  great  cause  of  delay  has  been  the  unsettled  and 
undetermined  state  of  the  geology  of  New  England.  Sir 
William  Logan  and  myself  have  spent  much  time  between 
here  and  the  westerly  border  of  Vermont,  Massachusetts 
and  Connecticut.  In  times  past  I  have  spent  many  thou- 
sands of  dollars  of  my  own  means  to  obtain  materials  for 
this  work,  but  increased  prices  without  increased  income 
have  prevented  much  of  this  work  for  some  time  past.  I 
shall  be  glad  to  have  an  early  reply  if  convenient  to  you, 
since  upon  it  will  depend  in  some  measure  my  action. 

Professor  Henry  could  not  assure  him  very  sub- 
stantial assistance,  and  as  Hall  had  already  taken 


406  JAMES  HALL 

up  the  matter  with  Bache  of  the  Coast  Survey,  he 
now  wrote  to  Professor  Benjamin  Peirce  who  had 
succeeded  Bache  in  the  position  of  Superintendent 
of  that  Survey.  This  appeal  was  cordially  met  by 
Peirce  who  referred  him  to  Mr.  Hilgard  "  with  the 
assurance  that  I  shall  acquiesce  in  any  arrangement 
which  will  accomplish  the  object."  The  promised 
help  may  have  been  given  in  the  matter  of  the 
execution  of  the  base  map  but  what  department  of 
state  was  to  defray  the  cost  of  printing  a  great  map 
in  colors,  of  so  large  a  part  of  the  public  domain? 
There  was  no  Federal  geological  survey  in  existence 
and  no  very  obvious  direct  or  indirect  route  through 
the  Government  treasury  with  so  costly  a  proposi- 
tion. The  time  was  not  ripe ;  we  were  too  young  a 
people  yet,  and  Mr.  Hall  was  too  wise  to  jeopardize 
his  work  in  New  York  by  bringing  forward  so  gi- 
gantic a  project  for  his  own  State's  support.  The 
great  map  was  never  done  and  all  echoes  of  it  soon 
died  away  amid  the  rapid  development  of  the  "  Pal- 
aeontology." 

The  volume  of  the  Devonian  Brachiopoda  was 
the  opening  door  into  the  vast  faunas  of  the 
Devonian  System  of  New  York  which,  beginning 
with  this,  were  now  to  be  exploited  in  a  series  of 
biological  treatises.  The  Devonian  rocks  cover 
nearly  one-half  the  area  of  New  York  State  and 
their  faunas  are  of  unsurpassed  richness.  Those 
rocks  had  been  to  Professor  Hall  the  most  fascin- 


PALAEONTOLOGY  IN  ACTION     407 

ating  of  all  collecting  grounds  during  the  days  of 
the  Fourth  District  Survey  and  now,  after  thirty 
years  in  the  systematic  course  of  his  researches,  he 
had  come  back  to  the  fossils  he  first  encountered  in 
their  embarrassing  wealth.  Feeling  himself  and 
his  work  firmly  established,  he  obviously  intended 
there  should  be  no  more  quibbling  or  hesitation  on 
the  part  of  the  State  in  supporting  his  undertaking 
to  its  completion.  By  1870,  and  from  then  on  for 
ten  years,  work  in  palaeontology  was  proceeding  in 
Albany  at  a  majestic  pace  and  the  estate  on  the 
banks  of  the  Beaverkill  was  a  busy  center  of  scien- 
tific research.  Whitfield,  Simpson,  Ebenezer  Em- 
mons,  Jr.  and  Mrs  Martin  were  making  original 
drawings,  though  Mr.  Whitfield,  wonderful  artist 
in  the  depiction  of  fossils,  was  now  largely  engaged 
in  the  descriptive  writing.  Swinton,  Ast  and  Rie- 
mann  were  drawing  on  stone  as  fast  as  lithographic 
stones  could  be  supplied.  The  lithographic  printing 
was  for  a  while  done  by  Swinton  in  Philadelphia 
and  then  under  contract  with  the  Van  Benthuysen 
house  in  Albany,  but  in  order  to  get  all  his  work 
where  it  would  be  under  his  immediate  eye,  Hall 
rearranged  two  buildings  on  his  estate  to  accom- 
modate the  lithographic  printing  and  there,  under 
the  most  scrutinizing  inspection,  often  the  most 
fiery  and  incisive  criticism  by  every  artist  in  ink  or 
crayon  who  had  a  personal  part  in  the  execution  of 
any  drawing,  this  delicate  work  of  etching  and 


408  JAMES  HALL 

printing  the  lithographic  stones  was  carried  on  by 
Swinton,  Fritsche  and  Conners.  The  drawings 
covered  all  manner  of  life  in  the  Devonian  fauna; 
Cephalopods,  Gastropods,  Pteropods  and  Lamelli- 
branchs;  Trilobites  and  other  Crustacea;  Bryozoa 
and  Corals;  they  were  made  by  scores  and  hun- 
dreds and  always  with  most  refined  accuracy  and 
finish;  otherwise  they  failed  to  pass  their  severe 
critics.  Even  though  much  of  the  delicacy  of  detail 
and  beauty  of  finish  in  these  drawings  was  bound  to 
be  sacrificed  to  the  moloch  of  the  printing  press, 
yet  all  these  excellencies  of  execution  were  de- 
manded and  their  attainment  was  ever  pursued  by 
a  heightened  competition. 

There  are  names  here  that  must  not  be  forgotten 
in  service  to  the  science  of  palaeontology.  Robert  P. 
Whitfield  will  remain  well  known  for  his  palaeon- 
tol-ogical  work  in  the  reports  of  several  of  the 
States ;  his  skill  in  delineation  led  him  into  an  under- 
standing of  refinements  in  organic  structures. 
George  B.  Simpson,  the  son  of  Professor  Hall's 
sister,  was  instructed  by  Whitfield,  and  though  his 
work  was  always  endangered  by  its  rigidity  and 
certain  want  of  "  moulding,"  yet  some  of  the  draw- 
ings of  his  later  years,  especially  those  of  the 
Bryozoa  and  Corals,  are  of  exquisite  delicacy. 
Ebenezer  Emmons,  Jr.,  a  son  of  the  Doctor  Emmons 
whose  name  has  been  so  often  on  our  pages,  sur- 
passed all  others  in  genuine  artistic  ability  and 


PHILIP  AST  409 

rendering,  and  I  think  the  most  delicate,  accurate 
and  effective  single  drawing  ever  made  for  the 
Palaeontology  was  executed  by  Mr.  Emmons  when 
he  was  past  sixty-five  years  of  age.  Of  the  litho- 
graphers, Philip  Ast  was  an  artist  of  extraordinary 
skill ;  his  equal  in  such  work  has  never  appeared  in 
this  country.  Mr  Ast  had  the  "  reversing  eye ;  " 
reversed  his  figures  in  copying  on  stone  naturally 
and  deftly  and  without  any  meretricious  aids,  and 
the  delineators  in  india  ink  were  ever  desirous  of 
his  rendition  of  their  work  for  he  smoothed  out  all 
their  delinquencies.  A  finished  stone  by  Ast  was  an 
object  of  exquisite  beauty.  Alas  for  draftsman  and 
lithographer!  In  such  work  their  efforts  toward 
delicacy  are  at  the  mercy  of  the  acid  of  the  etcher 
and  the  ink  of  the  printer. 

Mr.  Hall  took  utmost  pains  to  ensure  the  per- 
petual quality  of  the  results  he  so  rigorously  sought 
and  his  printers  were  of  the  best.  Hence  the 
quality  of  the  final  product  averaged  high.  To  me, 
as  a  young  enthusiast  in  the  study  of  fossils,  the 
making  of  these  illustrations  was  incomprehensible. 
It  was  difficult  to  believe  that  human  fingers  could 
produce  things  in  a  book  so  like  the  objects  the 
rocks  contained.  In  after  years  it  became  my  work 
to  superintend  the  production  of  some  thousands  of 
such  drawings  and  hundreds  of  lithographic  plates 
made  by  these  artists,  and  yet  I  never  ceased  to 
wonder  at  the  skill  which  made  them. 


410  JAMES  HALL 

To  keep  this  scientific  workshop  going,  it  was 
necessary  to  keep  men  busy  gathering,  preparing 
and  classifying  the  fossils  and  to  some  of  this  array 
of  men  we  shall  presently  refer.  Hall  had  also  to 
provide  the  lithographic  stones  at  his  own  expense 
and  there  were  sometimes  more  than  a  hundred  of 
these  with  drawings  on  both  sides.  And  here  it  is 
interesting  to  record  that  all  this  work  of  litho- 
graphy and  lithographic  printing  was  a  part  of  the 
contract  for  the  printing  of  the  Natural  History 
of  New  York,  entered  into  between  the  State  of 
New  York  and  C.  Van  Benthuysen's  Sons  in  or 
about  the  year  1840.  For  more  than  fifty  years  the 
contract  continued  in  force  subject  only  to  changes 
required  to  meet  the  civil  war  fluctuations  in  costs, 
always  carried  out  with  most  generous  considera- 
tion of  the  author,  his  embarrassments,  delin- 
quencies and  high  purposes,  executed  with  the 
proper  pride  of  good  workmanship  and  terminated 
only  through  the  intrusion  of  a  hostile  and  uncom- 
prehending official  charged  with  brief  authority  for 
mischief. 

Of  all  the  corps  of  men  engaged  upon  this  work, 
Mr.  Hall  himself  was,  in  these  days,  the  most  dili- 
gent. Nothing  that  entered  into  his  publications 
escaped  his  criticism  and  review  and  he  was  keen 
and  quick  in  the  preparation  of  his  manuscript. 
Up  and  at  his  desk  soon  after  break  of  day,  with  a 
cup  of  tea  and  a  panada  at  his  elbow,  he  found  his 


HALL  AT  SIXTY  411 

quiet  hours  before  his  assistants  came  around. 
And  after  they  had  gone  there  were  the  evening 
hours  which  seldom  found  him  away  from  his  work 
room.  It  was  his  habit  when  at  work  to  sit  before 
his  desk  on  a  revolving  piano-stool;  his  backbone 
needed  no  support  and  an  easy  chair  he  abhorred. 
But  alongside  his  desk  he  kept,  for  his  callers,  a 
deep  scoop-shaped  great  chair  into  which  the  visitor 
shriveled  as  he  sank  down  into  insignificance  near 
the  floor,  while  his  vis-a-vis,  erect  on  his  stool, 
towered  majestically  over  him.  It  was  a  strategic 
advantage  and  in  many  an  engagement  commanded 
the  enemy's  works.  Just  off  his  large  library  or 
"  office  "  was  his  bedroom  —  nothing  more  than  a 
cell  with  an  iron  cot,  a  wash-hand  stand,  a  looking 
glass,  a  small  table  with  spirit-lamp  and  teakettle, 
and  a  shotgun  on  the  wall ;  and  if  the  night  was  an 
uneasy  one  he  was  wont  to  sally  abroad,  candle  in 
hand,  among  his  fossils  or  to  sit  at  his  desk  and 
rid  his  mind  of  restless  thought.  So  we  were  wont 
to  find  drops  of  candle  grease  over  fossils  and 
books,  evidences  of  his  nocturnal  prowling. 

In  1871,  Hall  was  60  years  of  age,  just  at  the 
threshold  of  his  greatest  productiveness,  his  most 
effective  train  of  assistants  still  to  be  organized,  his 
richest  harvest  still  to  be  garnered.  He  was  always 
on  the  lookout  for  competent  but  not  too  ambitious 
assistants  to  work  out  his  materials.  They  came 
and  they  went.  To  those  he  wanted  to  remain  he 


412  JAMES  HALL 

offered  temptations,  not  always  effective.  Richard 
Rathbun  and  Orville  A.  Derby  came  in  those  years 
to  study  the  fossils  they  had  brought  home  from  the 
Devonian  and  Carboniferous  of  the  Amazon  and 
each  of  them  Hall  vainly  tried  to  keep.  Adolf 
Schmidt,  who  had  been  with  Raphael  Pumpelly  in 
his  Northwestern  Transcontinental  Survey,  and 
Reinhold  Fritz-Gaertner,  who  left  an  engagement 
in  England,  came  for  a  few  years,  but  they  had  little 
interest  in  palaeontology  and  they  passed  out, 
Schmidt  to  become  professor  at  Heidelberg  and 
Fritz-Gaertner  geologist  of  Honduras.  Hall's 
younger  son,  Charles  Edward,  was  for  a  while 
assisting  in  this  work.  "  Ned  "  was  a  good  gelo- 
gist  and  was  afterward  connected  with  the  surveys 
of  Texas  and  Pennsylvania,  finally  going  to 
Nicaragua.  When  he  left,  his  place  was  taken  by 
his  older  brother  James,  who  was  not  only  a  good 
collector  and  fine  preparator  but,  as  a  doctor  of 
•medicine,  had  a  knowledge  of  anatomy  which  was 
helpful  in  his  father's  researches.  The  collecting 
done  for  these  investigations  could  not  be  carried 
on  in  a  mincing  way.  Hall  taught  his  men  not  only 
the  science  but  the  art  of  collecting  fossils.  When 
R.  P.  Whitfield  and  Charles  A.  White,  in  1857, 
located  the  remarkable  colony  of  crinoids  at  Mut- 
tonville( Vincent),  Ontario  County,  in  the  Hamilton 
(Devonian)  shales,  they  with  Christian  Van  Deloo, 
collector,  removed  a  whole  hillside  in  order  to  get 


CHARLES    D.  WALCOTT  413 

all  there  was  to  get,  and  I  am  witness  of  the  fact 
that  no  traces  of  these  remains  have  been  seen  there 
since.  Mr.  Van  Deloo  was  an  extraordinary  col- 
lector and  during  the  years  of  which  we  are  now 
speaking  he  was  employed  in  magnificent  operations 
among  the  invertebrate  fossils.  He  was  the  fore- 
runner of  the  great  collectors  who  have  developed 
with  the  opening  up  of  the  palaeontological  treas- 
ures of  the  American  West.  In  1876,  Charles  D. 
Walcott,  an  indefatigable  student  who  had  made  his 
start  in  the  rich  Ordovician  formations,  the  Utica 
shale  and  Trenton  limestone  of  the  upper  Mohawk 
valley,  joined  Mr.  Hall's  staff  of  workers.  Mr. 
Walcott  was  more  than  a  collector ;  he  had  proven 
himself  a  keen  discover  of  new  things  in  the  rocks 
about  his  home  region  at  Utica.  The  trilobites 
which  he  had  found  in  a  small  ravine  just  east  of 
Trenton  Falls  were  like  carvings  in  polished  ebony 
and  are  still  unsurpassed  for  their  extraordinary 
brilliancy  and  completeness.  They  had  led  him  into 
the  quest  after  their  intimate  anatomy,  a  problem 
over  which  every  student  of  these  creatures  had 
puzzled,  Burmeister  and  Barrande  and  Woodward 
among  others.  To  help  himself  in  the  solution  of 
this  problem.  Mr.  Walcott  had  gone  to  Cambridge 
for  advice  and  guidance  from  Agassiz,  and  in  a 
recent  article  (1918)  the  now  distinguished  Secre- 
tary of  the  Smithsonian  Institution  has  said : 


414  JAMES  HALL 

"  In  September  1873  I  said  to  Professor  Louis  Agassiz 
that  if  opportunity  offered  I  would  undertake  as  one  bit 
of  future  research  work  to  determine  the  structure  of  the 
trilobite." 

And  after  forty-five  years  his  researches  and  dis- 
coveries, based  upon  vast  collections,  have  never 
relinquished  the  solution  of  this  mystery.  It  is  now 
in  large  measure  resolved  for  the  earlier  and  more 
highly  specialized  branches  of  this  extensive  group 
and  the  result  stands  as  a  remarkable  evidence  not 
alone  of  the  refined  retention  in  the  fossil  state  of 
the  most  delicate  anatomy,  but,  as  well,  of  persistent 
effort  in  unraveling  these  structures  from  their 
difficult  surroundings.  Mr.  Walcott  came  to 
Albany  to  assist  in  the  collection  and  the  classifica- 
tion of  fossils,  but,  by  a  specific  understanding  with 
Hall,  he  was  to  have  no  part  in  the  preparation  of 
the  reports;  on  the  other  hand,  he  was  to  publish 
his  own  discoveries,  over  his  own  name.  And  dur- 
ing his  three  years  stay  with  Hall,  Walcott  collected 
actively,  especially  along  the  Devonian  coral  reefs 
of  western  New  York,  while  in  the  same  time  he 
prepared  and  had  printed  in  the  State  Museum 
reports  and  the  Transactions  of  the  Albany  Insti- 
tute, several  papers  on  his  discoveries  among  the 
trilobites  and  other  fossils  in  the  lower  rocks  which 
held  his  special  interest;  indeed  his  first  attempts 
to  reconstruct  the  trilobite  appendages  from  trans- 
parent sections  of  the  curled-up  trilobites  of  the 


HALL  AND  WALCOTT  415 

Trenton  limestone  were  set  forth  in  the  reports  of 
the  Museum.  Hall  had  never  before  made  such  a 
concession  as  to  permit  an  assistant  to  publish  in- 
dependently in  his  reports  upon  the  geology  of 
New  York  and  it  was  an  arrangement  bound  not 
to  continue  long,  though  it  was  kept  in  perfect 
amity  and  mutual  helpfulness,  for  Mr.  Walcott 
was  a  young  citizen  for  whom  a  member  of  the 
Legislature  had  no  terrors  and  he  did  not  refrain 
from  personally  urging  among  these  members  a 
sane  public  support  of  Hall's  researches.  On  the 
other  hand  Hall,  quick  to  perceive  promising  genius, 
supported  Walcott's  undertakings  and  his  promo- 
tion to  the  newly  organized  Geological  Survey  of 
the  United  States  under  Major  John  W.  Powell, 
whither  Mr.  Walcott  went  in  1878,  eventually  to 
succeed  to  its  directorship. 

In  the  summer  of  1873  there  came  to  Mr.  Hall's 
laboratory  a  tired  boy,  knapsack  on  back,  who  had 
been  collecting  fossils  all  the  way  across  the  State 
from  Lake  Erie.  He  had  come  most  of  the  way 
afoot  to  see  the  great  palaeontologist  and  to  show 
him  the  fossils  he  had  found.  Hall,  the  author  of 
the  Palaeontology  of  New  York,  had  been  to  him  a 
superior  being  to  whose  books  he  owed  the  inspira- 
tion of  boyhood  days  among  the  rocks  of  Fredonia 
on  Lake  Erie  and  the  gullies  and  hillsides  of  War- 
ren, Pa.  This  was  Charles  E.  Beecher,  and  with 
his  coming  there  dawned  for  Hall  days  of  happi- 


416  JAMES  HALL 

ness  as  well  as  days  of  tragedy.  Beecher  was  a  boy 
of  seventeen,  full  of  ardor  for  the  fossils  in  the 
rocks  and  the  shells  in  the  streams.  Hall  took  in  the 
weary  lad,  refreshed  and  fed  him,  showed  him  his 
great  collection  and  all  the  wonders  of  his  place. 
Keen,  perceiving  and  quick  to  stimulate  a  budding 
devotee  of  his  science,  he  encouraged  Beecher  to 
go  to  college  and  to  keep  in  touch  with  him. 
Beecher  entered  the  University  of  Michigan  in  1874 
and  through  his  college  course  wrote  letters  that 
are  models  of  respectful  defference  and  intelligent 
comment.  Hall  became  enamored  of  the  boy  and 
in  the  summer  of  1875  went  out  to  Beecher's  home 
at  Warren  in  western  Pennsylvania  to  see  his  col- 
lections and  to  visit  his  localities  of  Chemung  and 
Carboniferous  fossils.  After  surrendering  an  am- 
bition of  going  around  the  world  on  a  scientific  ex- 
pedition which  was  projected  in  1877  —  a  rather 
necessary  surrender,  as  he  could  not  find  any  one 
to  advance  the  required  $2,500, —  Beecher  re- 
minded Hall  of  his  promise  to  find  employment  for 
him  and  Hall,  thinking  that  the  young  man  ought 
to  consider  a  future  that  would  be  free  of  the  un- 
certainties which  attended  his  own  work,  recom- 
mended him.  to  a  vacant  position  in  the  teaching 
staff  of  Williams  College.  "If  I  should  be  so 
fortunate,"  wrote  Beecher,  "  as  to  obtain  a  position 
at  Williams  I  think  they  would  find  me  more  will- 
ing than  capable/'  It  was  obvious  that  he  wanted 


CHARLES  CALLAWAY  417 

to  come  to  Albany,  equally  plain  that  Hall  wanted 
him,  and  in  1878  it  was  so  arranged.  Hall  went 
to  Europe  in  July,  Beecher  came  in  August  and  is 
soon  writing  to  Hall  in  Paris :  "  So  far  I  like  it 
here  very  much  and  hope  I  may  be  of  sufficient 
assistance  to  remain."  Mr.  Beecher  remained  ten 
years. 

While  in  England  in  1872,  Hall  had  met  an  inde- 
pendent enthusiast  in  geology,  Charles  Callaway  of 
Shineton,  who  desired  to  join  the  Albany  establish- 
ment for  the  purpose  of  acquainting  himself  with 
the  New  York  rocks  and  Hall's  methods  of  investi- 
gation. Mr.  Callaway  came  over  in  1873  and  re- 
mained two  years,  in  this  time  taking  some  part  in 
collecting  for  the  Museum  as  a  goodly  number  of 
the  Museum  locality  records  for  these  years  indi- 
cate. Mr.  Callaway  was  not  an  expert  in  palaeon- 
tology but  afterwards,  in  his  long  years  of  geologi- 
cal service  terminated  by  his  death  in  1915,  rend- 
ered very  substantial  contributions  to  British 
geology,  especially  in  his  labors  on  the  Cambrian 
formations.  His  name  is  registered  in  British 
palaeontology  by  the  trilobite  genus  Callavia.  Mr. 
Callaway  was  34  years  old  when  he  arrived  in 
Albany;  he  was  much  interested  then  in  the  edu- 
cational side  of  his  science  and  the  bent  of  his  mind 
is,  in  a  way,  indicated  by  an  address  he  delivered 
before  The  Albany  Institute  (1873)  on  the  "  Geo- 
logical Evidence  of  the  Origin  of  Species  by  Evolu- 

27 


418  JAMES  HALL 

tion."  Mr.  Hall  held  Callaway  in  high  regard  and 
when  Alexander  Winchell  became  the  Chancellor  of 
Syracuse  University,  recommended  him  as  pro- 
fessor of  geology  there.  "  He  is  a  graduate  in 
science  of  the  London  University,"  he  wrote,  "  and 
I  do  not  know  any  young  graduates  of  our  own  in- 
stitutions who  are  as  competent  as  I  consider  him 
to  be  for  such  a  position  "  (1873). 

Herbert  H.  Smith,  a  student  at  Cornell  with  Pro- 
fessor Chas.  Fred.  Hartt  and  who  afterward  be- 
came well  known  for  his  scientific  explorations  in 
South  America,  was  connected  with  the  staff  of  col- 
lectors at  various  times  during  these  years  a  and 
Whitman  Bailey,  a  brother  of  Loren  H.  Bailey, 
Provincial  Geologist  of  New  Brunswick,  made  a 
brief  stay  in  1874.  We  find  Hall  asking  Bishop  Hav- 
ens of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  diocese  of  Ohio,  to 
release  the  Reverend  Henry  Herzer,  a  minister  of 
that  denomination,  for  service  at  Albany.  Mr.  Her- 
zer is  still  well  remembered  as  a  collector  of  unusual 
skill  and  productiveness  and  the  discoverer  of  the 
great  fishes  (Dinichthys,  Titanichthys )  from  the 
Upper  Devonian  shales  of  Ohio.  The  consent  of 
the  Bishop  was  obtained  but  Hall's  offer  was  not 
enough  for  a  man  with  "  one-half  dozen  children," 
two  in  college.  "As  a  preacher,"  he  adds,  "  I  can 

1Dr.  Smith,  born  at  Manlius,  N.  Y.  in  1851,  and  in  1919  curator 
of  the  Museum  of  the  University  of  Alabama,  was  killed  by  a 
train  on  March  22nd  of  that  yeaf. 


ASSISTANTS   AND    CANDIDATES  419 

get  anywhere  $800  and  free  rent  and  in  some  places 
$1,000  and  a  house.  The  position  I  shall  very  likely 
obtain  by  next  June  will  secure  me  a  fine  residence, 
all  my  necessary  provisions  and  $600  salary.  I  will 
be  Principal  of  an  Orphan  Asylum."  With  such  an 
alternative,  science,  which  in  Albany  was  largely 
compensated  in  love  and  opportunity,  could  not 
compete. 

Of  the  others  of  these  years  who  wanted  to  join 
Professor  Hall  there  was  J.  S.  Kingsley  who  began 
sending  in  fossils  for  determination,  he  says,  "  in 
1867  when  I  was  13  years  of  age,"  and  who  in  1876 
begged  for  a  position  because  the  Peabody  Academy 
at  Salem,  with  which  he  was  then  connected,  had 
"  run  into  debt,  Dr.  Packard,  Caleb  Cooke  and  the 
janitor  being  the  only  paid  assistants."  This 
eminent  American  zoologist,  it  appears,  started  his 
career  in  science,  collecting  fossils  from  the 
Devonian  rocks  about  his  home  in  Chenango 
County,  N.  Y.  In  1876  Professor  Hall  received  a 
letter  from  Samuel  G.  Williams  of  Cleveland  who 
had  been  a  high  school  teacher  at  Ithaca  and  was 
to  become  a  professor  of  pedagogy  at  Cornell  Uni- 
versity, recommending  to  his  notice  a  promising 
junior  in  the  college  by  the  name  of  Leland  O. 
Howard.  The  efficient  present  head  of  the  United 
States  Bureau  of  Entomology  and  Past-President 
of  the  American  Association  for  the  Advancement 
of  Science  was  immediately  sought  out  by  Hall  to 


420  JAMES  HALL 

see  if  perchance  he  would  fit  the  requirements  of  his 
work.  Mr.  Howard  was  quickly  responsive  but 
the  connection  failed  and  a  possible  palaeontologist 
was  allowed  to  become  a  very  positive  entomologist. 

One  other  member  of  this  scientific  community 
for  a  while  was  C.  H.  Fernald,  in  after  years  an 
entomologist  of  excellent  service  in  the  Maine  State 
College  at  Orono  and  the  Massachusetts  State 
College  at  Amherst.  Mr.  Fernald  had  been  recom- 
mended as  a  draftsman  by  Edward  S.  Morse  of 
Portland,  Me.,  who  had  found  it  impossible  to  join 
the  Albany  staff,  but  Hall  thought  Fernald  would 
serve  him  better  by  collecting  the  Devonian  fossils 
of  Square  Lake  and.  Ashland  in  northern  Maine, 
and  here  in  intervals  he  was  engaged  for  a  few  sea- 
sons, meanwhile  teaching  school  and  selling  sub- 
scription books. 

For  many  years  Hall  had  been  worried  over  the 
problem  of  the  Old  Red  Sandstone  in  New  York. 
Its  presence  at  Blossburg,  Pa.,  had  been  one  of  his 
earliest  determinations  in  the  Fourth  District  Sur- 
vey and  by  inference  the  entire  mass  of  the  Catskill 
Mountains  had,  by  general  consent,  been  assigned 
to  the  same  age  although  the  term  "  Catskill 
Group  "  avoided  any  definite  commitment  on  the 
part  of  the  geologists  except  as  to  its  topmost  place 
in  the  series  of  New  York  Formations  and  as  early 
as  1844  he  had  satisfied  himself,  by  personal  exam- 
ination, that  the  Catskill  beds  contained  the  same 


SIR  ANDREW  RAMSAY  42 i 

fish  remains  as  the  "  Old  Red  "  of  Blossburg.  Hall 
had  repeatedly  and  generously  stated  that  Amos 
Eaton  was  primarily  responsible  for  recognizing 
the  Old  Red  in  the  Catskill  mountains. 

When  Sir  Andrew  Ramsay  was  in  Albany  in 
1857,  full  of  knowledge  of  the  Scottish  Old  Red, 
the  two  traversed  the  Catskill  sections  together  and 
Ramsay  confirmed  Hall  in  his  interpretations. 
Soon  after  this  Colonel  Jewett,  whose  opinions 
were  quite  generally  respected  among  geologists, 
explored  the  mountains,  collected  Chemung,  that 
is  marine  Devonian,  fossils  from  their  high  eleva- 
tions and  so  thought  himself  justified  in  declaring 
that  there  was  no  such  formation  in  that  region  as 
the  "  Old  Red."  Hall  wrote  in  1870  that  "  a  denial 
of  the  existence  of  the  Catskill  or  Old  Red  Sand- 
stone in  the  State  of  New  York  was  the  prevalent 
opinion;"  and  he  set  himself  to  determine  this 
matter.  In  1871  he  engaged  Andrew  Sherwood 
and  his  brother  Clark  Sherwood  of  Mansfield,  Pa., 
to  map  in  detail  the  extension  of  the  Catskill  or  Old 
Red  from  its  characteristic  outcrops  in  northern 
Pennsylvania  into  the  Catskill  mountains  and  ad- 
joining regions  to  the  west  and  he  had  these  men 
busy  on  the  problem  for  four  summers,  paying 
a  good  share  of  the  cost  out  of  his  own  pocket. 
These  men  were  thus  very  active  additional  mem- 
bers of  the  Albany  corps  though  not  spending  much 
time  in  the  Albany  office.  The  results  of  their  work 


422  JAMES  HALL 

were  of  high  importance  as  shown  by  Hall  before 
the  Detroit  meeting  of  the  American  Association 
in  1875.  They  showed,  1)  that  the  extensions  of 
Old  Red  north  from  Pennsylvania  lay  in  a  success- 
sion  of  broad  NE  synclines;  2)  that  the  valleys 
of  the  mountain  region  were  carved  on  subsidiary 
anticlines  which  being  cut  down  into  the  Chemung 
rocks  had  led  Colonel  Jewett  astray;  3)  that  the 
marine  strata  on  the  western  side  were  interlamin- 
ated  with  the  red  non-marine  beds;  4)  that  the 
fish  beds  lay  above  them  but  mostly  in  the  lower 
part  of  the  section,  and  5)  that  the  upper  900  feet 
of  gray  and  red  sandstone  constituting  the  summit 
beds  were  of  the  age  of  the  "  Vespertine "  of 
Pennsylvania;  that  is,  of  Lower  Carboniferous 
age.  These  conclusions  thus  recognized  the  land 
and  delta  nature  of  the  Catskill  formation,  and  of 
its  contemporaneous  origin  with  the  salt-water 
Chemung  deposits;  their  interlaminations  were 
interpreted  as  encroachments  of  terrestrial  sedi- 
ments on  the  sea  by  clearly  pronounced  diastro- 
phies.  The  Oneonta  sandstone  was  not  as  yet  dis- 
criminated as  an  opening  stage  of  this  deltiform 
deposit  and  the  recognition  of  summit  beds  as  Car- 
boniferous has  been  generally  ignored  by  writers  on 
American  geology,  though  the  present  writer  has 
had  occasion  to  verify  this  determination  through 
comparative  study  of  Logan's  Bonaventure  forma- 
tion on  the  Gaspe  Peninsula. 


LECTURER  AT  CORNELL          423 

Such,  then,  were  some  of  the  activities  at  Albany 
during  these  years.  And  it  is  of  interest  to  note 
further  that  Major  T.  B.  Brooks,  resting  from  his 
labors  as  geologist  of  Michigan,  was  deeply 
engaged  with  glacial  phenomena  about  his  home  at 
Monroe,  Orange  county;  that  Theodore  Gill  and 
Ernest  Ingersoll  were  promising  to  report  to  the 
director  of  the  Museum  on  the  Fishes  and  the  Birds 
of  New  York;  and  that  Persifor  Frazer  of  Phila- 
delphia and  Charles  F.  Holder  of  New  York  were 
seeking  positions  on  the  Museum  staff. 

At  the  founding  of  Cornell  University,  Hall  was 
appointed  nonresident  lecturer  on  geology,  but  he 
never  gave  a  lecture  there,  or  at  least  nothing  that 
constituted  a  course  of  instruction.  In  this  respect 
Mr.  Hall  had  learned  his  limitations  and  in  spite  of 
all  his  virile  enthusiasm  and  his  lucidity  in  con- 
versation he  was  not  a  good  public  speaker.  Pre- 
suming too  much  upon  his  fulness  of  knowledge  he 
rarely  put  his  addresses  in  writing  and  he  was  wont 
to  ramble  incoherently  and  ineffectively,  to  the 
exasperation  and  despair  of  his  hearers.  Yet  his 
name  carried  great  weight  with  the  new  University 
as  long  as  his  wisdom  kept  him  out  of  the  lecture 
room.  In  his  youth  at  the  Rensselaer  School,  Hall's 
lectures  had  been  vastly  inspiring,  but  years  of 
total  absorption  in  his  researches  seem  to  have  done 
for  him  what  it  has  done  to  many  another  esoteric, 
blocked  his  approaches  or  calloused  his  perceptions 


424  JAMES  HALL 

of  his  hearers'  capacity.  But  to  be  a  college  pro- 
fessor was  not  to  him  a  satisfying  ambition  and  it 
seems  evident  that  he  loaned  his  name  to  Cornell 
partly  because  the  ambitious  program  of  the  new 
University  had  lured  into  the  nonresident  lecture- 
ships such  other  names  as  Louis  Agassiz,  George 
William  Curtis,  James  Russell  Lowell  and  Goldwin 
Smith. 

When  Mr  Hall  gave  his  important  address  on 
the  Evolution  of  the  North  American  Continent 
(December,  1868)  before  the  American  Institute 
in  New  York,  as  a  part  in  the  course  in  which  Silli- 
man,  Hunt,  Dawson,  Horsford  and  Guyot  shared, 
he  wrote  out  every  word  he  said  and  by  sticking  to 
his  manuscript  brought  himself  distinguished 
credit. 

College  positions  had  ceased  to  attract ;  and  when 
his  old  Rensselaer  classmate,  Dr.  Sager  of  Ann 
Arbor,  urged  him  in  1872  to  take  the  professorship 
there  about  to  be  vacated  by  Alexander  Winchell, 
and  a  trustee  of  the  University  of  Missouri  wanted 
him  to  come  there  where  they  were  looking  "for 
a  first-class  Prof."  for  the  new  Mining  School  at 
Rolla,  Hall  put  the  proffers  aside.  But  at  Cornell, 
Hall  was  preparing  the  way  for  the  entry  of  a 
permanent  successor.  There  were  many  candidates 
for  the  attractive  position:  Clarence  King  and 
William  M.  Gabb;  T.  Sterry  Hunt  who  did  give 
an  occasional  lecture,  while  J.  Peter  Lesley,  at 


CHARLES  FRED.  HARTT  425 

first  strongly  urged  by  Hall,  held  back,  true  Phila- 
delphian  that  he  was,  for  fear  of  "  a  too  rapid  and 
unwholesome  intellectual  stimulus  "  and  because 
the  winters  at  Ithaca  were  too  cold.  As  Lesley 
failed  him,  Hall  turned  his  support  to  a  young 
Canadian,  afraid  neither  of  cold  nor  heat,  who  had 
just  taken  on  a  professorship  at  Vassar  College, 
Charles  Frederic  Hartt,  whose  memory  is  still 
cherished  as  that  of  an  inspiring  teacher,  inde- 
fatigable explorer  and  lovable  personality. 
Dynamic  with  enthusiasm,  Hartt  writes  to  Hall 
while  waiting  for  the  Cornell  elections  (1868): 
"  To  study  on  the  classic  ground  of  New  York 
under  the  direction  of  a  master  in  the  science  is 
what  I  long  to  do."  Hartt  is  now  known  to  this 
generation  as  the  real  pioneer  and  builder  of  geo- 
logical science  in  Brazil.  At  this  time -he  had  just 
returned  from  that  country  whither  he  had  accom- 
panied Agassiz  on  the  expedition  to  the  Amazon, 
financed  by  Nathaniel  Thayer,  for  the  purpose  of 
discovering  new  fishes  and  determining  the  exis- 
tence of  an  equatorial  glacier ;  for  in  that  day  glaci- 
ation  meant  all-world  refrigeration.  He  had  come 
back  well  loaded  with  Cretaceous  fossils  from 
Bahia,  but  on  taking  up  his  duties  at  Cornell  in 
1869,  he  declares  he  is  going  to  give  up  Brazilian 
geology  as  soon  as  these  Bahia  problems  are  worked 
out.  The  hold  was  too  strong  upon  him.  In  1870 
he  writes:  "A  friend  outside  has  given  a  few 


426  JAMES  HALL 

hundred  dollars  to  help  finish  some  of  my  Brazilian 
investigations  and  I  am  off  next  summer  with  sev- 
eral students."  And  so  began  the  first  of  the  E. 
B.  Morgan  Expeditions  (1870),  the  entering  wedge 
of  the  great  service  he  was  to  initiate  and  inspire 
in  that  uninvaded  treasure  house  of  geological 
knowledge.  The  "  boys  "  who  went  with  him  on 
this  first  trip  into  the  Amazon  region  were  Orville 
A.  Derby,2  H.  H.  Smith,  T.  B.  Comstock  and  W. 
S.  Barnard.  On  the  second  expedition  (1871) 
Derby  alone  was  with  him. 

The  career  and  influence  of  Hartt  have  been  the 
subject  of  memorials  by  the  distinguished  men  who 
had  served  as  his  assistants  on  the  Geological  Com- 
mission of  Brazil  which  he  organized ;  Derby,  Rich- 
ard Rathbun  and  John  C.  Branner.  Hartt's  bril- 
liant and  brief  career  gave  to  geological  science 

'Derby  was  born  at  Niles,  Cayuga  county,  N.  Y.  and  after  his 
graduation  from  Cornell  became  instructor  in  Hartt's  work  during 
the  latter's  absence  in  Brazil;  was  chief  assistant  in  the  Brazil  Sur- 
vey, remained  in  Rio  after  Hartt's  death  so  that  the  fruits  of  that 
Survey  should  not  be  lost,  and  with  the  materials  collected  —  the 
Survey  expiring  with  its  chief  —  established  himself  as  Director 
of  the  geological  section  of  the  Museu  Nacional.  In  this  position 
he  remained  from  1879-1891,  in  the  meantime  (1886)  establishing 
the  Geologcal  Survey  of  the  State  of  Sao  Paulo,  the  first  and  only 
State  Survey  of  the  kind  yet  organized  in  that  Republic.  A  few 
years  before  his  death  Derby  had  the  great  satisfaction  of  seeing 
the  National  Geological  Service  reestablished,  himself  in  charge, 
and  the  vision  of  his  chief  take  on  renewed  form.  Orville  A.  Derby 
was  a  successful  organizer  and  executive,  the  largest  contributor 
to  Brazilian  geology.  He  seldom  came  back  to  America  and 
eventually  became  a  citizen  of  Brazil.  He  died  in  1917. 


BRAZILIAN  FOSSILS  427 

much  to  be  grateful  for,  much  to  lament;  but  we 
can  not  here  follow  it  far.  Our  present  interest 
lies  in  his  contacts  with  Hall,  to  whom,  from  the 
day  of  his  arrival  at  Cornell,  he  openhandedly 
tendered  the  entire  collections  of  the  institution. 
At  his  return  from  the  1870  expedition  which  had 
discovered  the  Devonian  of  Erere  and  Serra 
Alegre,  he  besought  Hall's  advice  constantly.  "  I 
have  a  few  trilobites  from  Erere,  Prov.  of  Para," 
he  says  in  first  announcing  his  discovery  January 
31,  1871,  but  uncertain  as  to  their  age,  "  Would 
you  have  the  time  to  look  at  them  ?  "  Hall  thinks 
they  are  "Upper  Helderberg"  and  Hartt  then 
admits  (February  27)  that  "  in  a  report  published 
in  Para  in  which  I  gave  a  summary  of  the  scientific 
results  of  my  expedition  I  gave  it  as  my  opinion 
that  the  Erere  beds  were  Devonian.  Before  I  sent 
the  trilobites  I  was  quite  sure  that  they  indicated  a 
Lower  Devonian  age.  *  *  *  I  believe  you  are  right 
in  your  suggestion  "  —  a  very  interesting  state- 
ment in  view  of  the  later  interpretations  of  these 
faunas.  The  letter  following  gives  a  glimpse  of 
Hartt  amid  the  embarrassment  of  his  work  at 

Ithaca. 

ITHACA,  N.  Y.,  January  I5th,  1874. 

"  I  fear  that  this  letter  will  look  as  though  it  were  thoroly 
selfish  but  there  happens  to  be  a  matter  in  which  a  scratch 
of  your  pen  will  aid  me  in  a  most  important  matter  and  I 
want  to  ask  you  to  give  it  me  if  you  consistently  can. 
It  is  this:  I  have  spent  during  the  last  three  years  over 


428  JAMES  HALL 

$2,000  of  my  own  money  in  my  Brazilian  work.  When  I 
came  to  Ithaca  I  saw  that  I  could  not  well  begin  original 
work  in  the  palaeontology  of  this  vicinity  without  inter- 
fering more  or  less  with  your  work,  so  I  have  done  next  to 
nothing  but  collect.  The  Brazilian  field  was  open  to  me 
and  I  went  into  it.  I  expected  backing  by  the  University 
but  I  didn't  get  it,  so  I  spent  my  own  money,  worked  like  a 
dog  and  have  finally  succeeded  in  starting  a  cabinet  and  in 
building  up  a  laboratory  which  I  hope  you  will  feel  pleased 
with.  But  I  am  terribly  pinched  pecuniarily  and  must  do 
something  to  get  out  of  the  mud.  I  have  presented  a  state- 
ment of  the  amounts  spent  by  me  for  collecting  and  am 
trying  to  get  back  at  least  a  part  of  my  money.  But  I 
must  convince  the  "  bugs  "  here  that  my  collections  from 
Brazil,  especially  the  palaeontological  ones  are  good  for 
something.  Now  if  from  what  you  have  seen  of  these 
collections  you  think  that  I  have  done  right  jn  making 
them  and  that  they  are  really  of  value  to  the  Univ.  you 
would  greatly  help  me  if  you  would  give  me  a  little  note 
to  that  effect.  I  beg  you  will  pardon  the  infliction  but  I 
don't  know  how  else  to  convince  our  people  here  that  I  have 
done  a  wise  thing. 

I  am  laboring  from  morning  till  night  with  my  students. 
I  am  drilling  them  systematically  and  hope  to  make  natural- 
ists of  at  least  some  of  them  but  all  will  have  a  little  idea 
of  what  Natural  History  work  is  and  will  be  all  the  better 
for  the  laboratory  practise. 

Yours  very  sine. 

CH.  FRED  HARTT 

The  pleasant  relations  between  Cornell  University 
inaugurated  by  President  White  and  strengthened 
by  Hartt  were  not  long  to  continue.  When 


GEOLOGICAL  PERSONAGES        429 

Hartt  left  for  a  five  years'  absence  in  Brazil,  Hall 
was  asked  to  recommend  a  locum  tenens  and  he  sug- 
gested Orestes  St  John.  But  he  was  not  appointed 
and  presently  the  Cornell  influences  were  aimed  at 
possession  of  the  State  Museum  and  thus  initiated 
an  attitude  toward  Hall  and  his  institution  of 
captious  "  review  "  where  there  should  always  have 
been  sympathetic  cooperation.  Such  an  attitude, 
of  course  foreign  to  the  idea  of  the  University, 
became  eventually  one  of  quite  personal  and  very 
irritating  expression  but  of  a  sort  that  time  wipes 
out,  with  the  growing  consciousness  that  knowledge 
is  not  wisdom.  During  these  annoying  experiences 
there  was  an  enthusiastic  and  amiable  lover  of 
geology  in  Ithaca,  Samuel  G.  Williams,  whose 
unbroken  friendship  helped  in  a  measure  to  coun- 
teract the  sapient  asperities  sown  in  the  college 
classroom. 

Geological  Personages 

To  every  geologist  touches  of  the  intimate  life 
of  the  great  names  in  his  science  have  an  especial 
interest.  The  student  who  sees  the  names  without 
knowing  the  man  behind  them  may  magnify  them 
out  of  due  proportion  to  their  human  nature  and  it 
is  good  to  behold  them  in  working  garb.  Sir  Archi- 
bald Geikie  has  done  an  interesting  service  in  his 
happily  written  biographies  of  the  Founders  of 
Geology  and  of  some  of  their  successors,  and  out 
of  such  a  years-long  chain  of  correspondence  as 


430  JAMES  HALL 

that  of  Professor  Hall's  there  is  much  revealed  that 
helps  us  to  feel  that  our  distinguished  predecessors 
were  bone  of  our  bone. 

We  have  had  occasion  to  refer  to  Doctor  Bigsby, 
the  British  Army  Surgeon  who,  while  stationed  in 
Canada,  acquired  an  unbounded  enthusiasm  for 
American  geology.  In  the  years  of  which  we  are 
now  writing,  Doctor  Bigsby  was  deeply  engaged 
with  the  preparation  of  what  he  called  his  "  The- 
sauri," that  is,  complete  lists  of  the  fossils  of  the 
different  geological  ages,  tasks  of  an  enormous 
labor  actually  far  out  of  proportion  to  their  value  to 
a  growing  science.  Bigsby  was  already  a  man  of 
75,  though  still  full  of  that  British  vigor  which  con- 
ceals the  years  and,  it  sometimes  seems,  does  not  get 
under  full  swing  until  other  men  have  ceased. 
There  is  so  much  pleasant  and  interesting  chatter 
regarding  British  and  Continental  geologists  in 
Bigsby 's  letters  that  we  give  here  extracts  from 
them.  They  begin  in  1868  and  are  written  from 
his  home  in  Portman  Square,  London. 

Sept.  2,  1868.     His  "  Thesaurus  Siluricus  "  is  done  and  the 
"  Th.  Devonicus  "  begun. 

"  Salter,3  the  European  prince  of  Palaeontology  is  in 
infirm  health;  Murchison  is  in  Bohemia  bad  with 
rheumatism." 


8  John  William  Salter  (1820-1869).  Colaborer  with  Sedgwick  in 
researches  in  North  Wales,  and  trained  in  early  life  as  natural 
history  draftsman  to  J.  de  Carle  Sowerby.  Salter  was  appointed 
in  1846  Palaeontologist  to  the  Geological  Survey. 


BIGSBY'S  NOTES  431 

Dec.  i,  1868.  "  I  have  advanced  considerably  with  my 
The.  Damnoniensis  with  the  aid  of  Etheridge  4  in  par- 
ticular. I  know  that  it  is  Murchison's  wish  that  he 
should  help  me.  So  will  Salter,  but  he  is  laid  aside  by 
great  nervous  weakness  and  variability  of  temper,  the 
cause  and  effect  of  losing  his  situation  at  the  Museum. 
*  *  *  I  am  in  my  76th  year  but  pretty  hale  and  in 
humble  easy  circumstances.  Murchison  is  76,  Lyell 
72-73.  The  Geological  Society  of  London  is  flourish- 
ing ,in  money  and  members;  Ramsay5  is  remarkably 
well,  Huxley  is  getting  fat ;  Carpenter 6  prosperous 
domestically;  about  to  bring  out  some  remarkable 
dredging  facts  on  sea  depth  and  temperature  in  the 
Irish  seas;  Bowerbank7  working  hard  on  sponges  and 
producing  beautiful  developments.  We  have  many  very 
promising  young  geologists, —  Whitaker,8  Dawkins,9 


4  Robert  Etheridge,  Sr.  (1819-1869).  in  1857  assistant  to  J.  W. 
Salter,  Palaeontologist  of  the  Geological  Survey,  with  which  he 
was  connected  for  twenty-four  years.  He  was  a  prolific  writer 
on  physical  and  organic  geology. 

B  Andrew  Combe  Ramsay,  Third  Director  of  the  British  Geologi- 
cal Survey  (see  Archibald  Geikie:  Life  of  Sir  A.  C.  Ramsay). 

6  William  B.   Carpenter.     An  extraordinary  representative  of  an 
extinct   race,   the   "  universal   naturalist ",    Carpenter   achieved   dis- 
tinction   in  every   field   he   entered,   physiology,  medicine,   zoology, 
palaeontology,    geology   and   is   to   be   regarded  a   founder  of   the 
science  of  Oceanography. 

7  James  Scott  Bowerbank    (1797-1877)   was  the  founder  of  the 
Palaeontographical  Society.    Perhaps  best  known  for  his  researches 
on  the  sponges. 

8  William  Whitaker.    Best  known  for  his  study  of  subaerial  eros- 
ion and  for  his  volumes :     The  Geology  of  London,  1889. 

8  W.  Boyd  Dawkins.  A  prolific  writer  on  extinct  mammals  and 
cave  remains. 


432  JAMES  HALL 

Holl 10  &c.  Rupert  Jones  u  has  his  hands  full,  but  a 
surgeon  in  London,  Parker,12  is  the  most  rising  man  by 
his  researches  in  physiological  developments." 

May  10,  1869.  "  Sir  R.  Murchison  has  lost  an  attached  wife 
and  is  suffering  accordingly  but  bears  up  as  a  man  can 
at  78.  He  is  a  warmhearted  and  friendly  man.  Water- 
house  Hawkins13  is  finding  profitable  employment  at 
New  York.  His  qualifications  are  extraordinary  and 
money  is  of  importance  to  him." 

July  6,  1871.  "  It  has  pleased  Almighty  God  to  allow  me 
within  the  past  three  weeks  to  complete  two  Thesauri  — 
T.  Devonicus  and  T.  Carboniferus.  *  *  *  The 
heroic  days  of  Buckland,14  Fitton,15  Murchison,  Hop- 


10  Harvey  Buchanan  Holl  (1820-1886).  When  a  lad  of  seventeen 
Holl  accompanied  De  la  Beche,  first  Director  of  the  British  Geo- 
logical Survey,  on  explorations  into  Cornwall  and  Devon  and  by 
him  was  recommended  to  H.  D.  Rogers  with  whom  he  worked 
for  three  years  on  the  Geological  Survey  of  Pennsylvania.  Holl 
is  best  known  for  his  researches  on  the  Devonian  rocks  in  South 
Devon. 

n  Thomas  Rupert  Jones  (1920-1911).  One  of  the  first  editors  of 
the  Geological  Magazine;  Professor  at  the  Royal  Military  College, 
Sandhurst.  Best  known  for  his  researches  on  the  fossil  Crustacea 
and  Foraminifera. 

UIV.  Kitchen  Parker  (1823-90).  Known  for  his  researches  upon 
the  Foraminifera  in  association  with  T.  R.  Jones  and  H.  B.  Brady. 

18  B.  Waterhouse  Hawkins  is  best  known  for  his  restorations  of 
extinct  monsters  made  for  the  Crystal  Palace. 

14  Rev.  Professor  William  Buckland,  Dean  of  Westminster  (1784- 
1856).  In  18.19  he  was  made  the  first  Professor  of  Geology  at 
Oxford.  A  philosophical  writer  of  great  versatility  and  learning. 
"  He  examined  coprolites  to  discover  the  food  of  saurians ;  he 
studied  snails  to  explain  holes  bored  in  limestone;  he  extracted 
gelatine  from  the  bones  of  the  mammoth;  he  enclosed  toads  in 
artificial  cavities  to  determine  their  tenacity  of  life  and  he  made 
living  hyaenas  crush  ox  bones  to  furnish  evidence  for  the  con- 


BIGSBY'S  NOTES  433 

kins,16  Greenough,17  Wollaston18  and  Sharpe19  are  fast 
expiring.  The  kindly  Murchison,  full  of  honor,  is  only 
half  alive,  being  hemiplegic  but  working  at  home  his 
2  or  3  hours  a  day  with  his  old  zeal.  Lyell  looks  very 
aged  and  enfeebles  distinctly  but  slowly.  He  is  75. 
Murchison  is  79.  Lyell  is  bringing  out  a  new  edition 
of  his  "  Principles."  Murchison's  "  Siluria  "  has  sold 
well.  He  is  a  man  of  large  fortune  and  large  expendi- 
ture and  is  in  the  habit  of  assisting  young  men  in  pre- 
liminary matters.  The  Emperor  of  Brazil  called  on  him 
the  other  day,  which  specially  pleased  a  little  weakness 
of  the  good  man.  Principal  Dawson  last  spring  had  a 
great  triumph  before  the  Royal  Society  in  delivering 
the  Bakerian  lecture  on  .New  Brunswick  Coal  Plants. 
Lyell  and  Murchison  were  there  and  complimented  him 
mightily.  As  to  yourself  there  is  not  a  considerable 
town  in  Europe,  I  suppose,  in  which  you  have  no  f  r,iend. 
Your  works  are  everywhere  most  highly  appreciated." 
Dec.  18,  1871.  Urges  Hall  to  come  to  Europe.  "If  you 
should  think  of  this  the  geologists  of  Europe  would  be 


viction  of  the  old  midnight  robbers  of  preglacial  caverns."     (Robert 
Hunt.) 

KDr.  William  Henry  Fitton  (1780-1861).    President  of  the  Geo- 
logical Society  of  London  in  1827. 

18  William  Hopkins,  Professor   in  Cambridge,   "  led   the  way  in 
applying  mathematical  and  mechanical  knowledge  to  geology." 

*7  George  Bellas  Greenough   (1778-1855).     First  President  of  the 
Geological   Society   of   London    (1811). 

"William  Hyde  Wollaston  (1766-1828).    "A  mineralogist  of  the 
first  water ; "  "  an  English  gentleman  and  philosopher." 

M Daniel  Sharpe  (1806-56).    "In  all  respects  a  remarkable  man." 
His   researches  extended  to  many  branches  of   geology,  but  most 
effectively   to   stratigraphy  and  palaeontology.     He  was   killed   by 
a  fall  from  his  horse. 
28 


434  JAMES  HALL 

highly  gratified  and  you  would  oblige  me  by  taking  up 
your  abode  in  my  comfortable  but  humble  dwelling." 

Aug.  13,  1872.  Hall  made  his  first  tr,ip  to  Europe  in  1872 
and  while  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hall  were  in  Brighton,  Bigsby 
writes  that  he  is  not  well  (at  80)  and  has  engaged 
apartments  for  the  Halls  on  Portman  Square.  "  Sir 
Charles  Lyell  and  Prof.  Morris20  live  near  and  Huxley 
in  St  John's  Wood.  *  *  *  I  go  down  to  Brighton 
on  purpose  to  introduce  you  to  our  geological  friends  — 
not  that  James  Hall  of  Albany  requires  introduction 
anywhere." 

May  28,  1874.  "  Even  the  slight  intercourse  possible  with 
you  made  a  friend  and  comrade  of  you.  We  were 
delighted  to  look  upon  the  author  of  so  many  great 
quartos.  As  for  me  your  works  have  for  years  been 
my  principal  meat.  The  general  impression  made  upon 
us  was  most  excellent  and  upon  such  persons  as  David- 
son,21 Prestwich,22  Jeffreys,23  Phillips,24  etc.  Sir  C. 


*°  John  Morris  (1810-86).  Trained  as  a  pharmaceutical  chemist, 
he  devoted  himself  to  geology  and  became  professor  at  University 
College. 

21  Thomas  Davidson  (1817-1885).  A  Scotchman  of  wealth  who 
was  devoted  both  to  art  and  geology.  It  is  said  that  he  took  up 
the  study  of  fossil  brachiopods  at  the  suggestion  of  Leopold  von 
Buch  and  this  became  the  principal  work  of  life. 

"Sir  Joseph  Prestwich  was  born  in  1812  and  after  graduation 
from  University  College  entered  a  business  career  devoting  all  his 
leisure  to  geology.  Retiring  from  business  in  1872  he  was  appointed 
professor  at  Oxford.  He  died  in  1896. 

33  John  Gwyn  Jeffreys  (1809-85).  A  conchologist  of  distinction, 
expert  in  Tertiary  Mol  usca. 

14  John  Phillips  (1800-74).  A  nephew  of  William  Smith  and 
assistant  to  De  la  Beche  on  the  British  Geological  Survey.  His 
best  known  geological  writings  relate  to  the  old  rocks  of  Cornwall, 
Devon  and  West  Somerset.  Phillips  was  successively  professor  at 
Kings  College,  London,  and  Trinity  College,  Dublin. 


BIGSBY'S  NOTES  435 

Lyell's  mind  is  as  clear  as  ever  but  bodily  he  is  a  very 
aged  man  always  attended  by  a  lady.  He  has  lost  his 
excellent  wife.  Her  sisters  (Miss  Homers)  live  at 
Florence  where  they  have  published  a  clever  book  for' 
tourists  in  Florence.  Ramsay  and  family  are  well.  He 
is  conducting  the  Gov*  Survey  with  credit  and  in  peace. 
Etheridge  has  received  £150  from  the  Royal  Society 
to  enable  him  to  publish  in  3  volumes  the  Palaeonty  of 
G*  Britain.  Huxley  &  Tyndall  are  in  full  swing. 
Huxley  has  returned  to  the  use  of  his  razor.  Duncan 
is  working  hard  lecturing  on  geological  subjects.  Judd25 
is  printing  in  the  Qty  J1  G.  S.  L.  some  interesting 
papers  on  the  Mesozoics  of  North  Scotland.  Rupert 
Jones  is  working  hard  in  his  usual  hunting  ground. 
Barrande  of  Prague  is  more  active  than  ever.  He  is  a 
grand  investigator.  Principal  Dawson's  neat  and  popu- 
lar "  Earth  and  Man  "  is  in  its  third  edition.  Dawson, 
Heer,26  Carruthers27  "and  Schimper  are  disputing  on 
some  fossil  botany  rather  unpleasantly.  Mr  Evans,28 
our  new  president  of  the  Geol.  Socy  is  much  liked  for 
his  good  temper,  his  great  administrative  ability  and  a 
sufficiency  of  Geoly.  Evans  is  the  author  of  valuable 
works  on  numismatics  and  British  antiquities  —  also  a 
prosperous  paper-maker." 


*  John  Wesley  Judd  (1840-1915).    Successor  to  Huxley  as  dean 
of   the   Royal    College  of    Science,   best   known   for   his   work   on 
volcanos. 

M  Oswald  Heer,  born  in  Switzerland,  was  professor  in  the  Zurich 
University.  He  was  a  master  of  -palaeobotany. 

27  William  Carruthers,  palaeobotanist,  known  specially  for  his 
researches  on  .the  Coal  and  Cretaceous  Plants. 

*  Sir  John  Evans.    An  English  gentleman  of  wealth  and  a  patron 
of  geological  science.    President  of  the  Geological  Society  of  London, 
1875. 


436  JAMES  HALL 

Aug.  4,  1875.  "  I  think  volcanoes  are  likely  to  be  a  favorite 
study.  Mr  Scrope  29  employs  Judd  in  the  Lipari  Islands 
etc.  on  liberal  .terms.  Dawkins,  Busk,80  Hulke31  and 
others  are  drawing  much  attention  to  Tertiary  and 
other  mammalia." 

Feb.  4,  1876.  "  The  Geological  Society  is  very  flourishing 
and  its  papers  fairly  good,  those  of  Mr  Judd  being 
probably  the  best.  Mr  Poulett  Scrope,  a  great  vul- 
canist,  has  lately  sent  him  to  Stromboli  and  to  one  of 
the  southern  provinces  of  Austria  to  investigate  and 
describe  plutonic  appearances.  He  put  £200-400  into 
Judd's  pocket  on  which  to  journey.  For  some  years 
Scrope  was  blind.  He  d,ied  14  days  ago.  *  *  *  Sir 
Charles  Lyell  has  left  a  bronze  medal  for  meritorious 
work.  I  have  imitated  him  in  a  humble  way  and  am  hav- 
ing a  bronze  medal  struck  as  an  incentive  to  labour  in 
future  days.82 

Dec.  4,  1875.  "  Ramsay  has  been  raised  a  step  in  honor 
and  profit  and  Judd  now  lectures  at  the  Jermyn  St. 
School  on  Geology  at  £400  per  annum.  I  hope  it  will 
soon  be  £600.  The  salaries  of  the  younger  men  in 
geology  are  too  low  but  most  of  them  get  good  jobs  as 


29 George  Poulett  Scrope  (1797-1876).  "His  'Considerations  on 
Volcanos '  and  his  '  Memoir  on  the  Geology  of  Central  France ' 
aided  greatly  in  establishing  the  true  principles  of  geology." 

30  George  Busk  (1807-86).  In  early  life  a  naval  surgeon,  became 
interested  in  palaeontology  and  made  a  special  study  of  the  Bryozoa. 
Later  his  researches  extended  to  the  Pleistocene  mammals. 

"John  W.  Hulke  (1830-95).  A  distinguished  surgeon,  President 
of  the  College  of  Surgeons,  who  became  high  authority  on  the 
extinct  reptiles. 

a  The  beautiful  "  Bigsby  Medal "  of  the  Geological  Society  of 
London  carries  on  its  reverse  an  engraved  replica  of  the  Canadian 
fossil  Echinoderm,  Agelacrinites  Dicksoni. 


Autograph  portrait  of  Professor  Huxley  be- 
fore he  "  returned  to  the  use  of  his  razor." 
From  a  notebook  used  by  him  about  1857  and 
evidently  made  to  amuse  his  baby.  (In  the 
author's  possession.) 


BIGSBY'S  NOTES  437 

editors  or  are  drafted  into  the  Colonies  as  teachers  and 
explorers." 

Jan.  8,  1871.  Replying  to  Hall's  tale  of  lack  of  apprecia- 
tion :  "  I  can  understand  your  feeling  of  loneliness  in 
the  absence  of  sympathizers.  If  there  are  none  in 
Albany  there  are  thousands  scattered  over  the  civilized 
world,  and  you  stand  alone  in  opening  out  many  of  the 
mightiest  works  of  God,  just  as  the  Cedars  of  Lebanon 
stand  alone.  *  *  *  Don't  give  way  to  depression.. 
Believe  in  Jesus  and  be  happy.  Continue  to  adorn  with 
new  -labours  the  imperishable  name  you  have  won." 

Aug.  17,  1877.  "  Ever  since  I  had  a  slight  attack  of  paralysis 
I  cannot  dine  at  the  [Geological  Dining]  Club  in  spite 
of  the  great  friendliness  of  the  members.  There  are 
some  good  talkers  at  the  Cub  but  none  equal  to  Stokes,3* 
Buckland,  Chambers  and  Fitton.  Robert  Chambers34 
made  the  fifth  husband  to  an  excellent  lady.  She  died 
in  a  year  or  two  and  he  soon  followed.  Being  85  com- 
plete I  see  only  little  company.  That  admirable  geolo- 
gist Prestwich  is  professor  at  Oxford  but  his  class  con- 
sists of  8-15.  His  defect  is  his  manner.  *  *  * 
Your  isolation  in  Albany  is  not  pleasant  but  indispens- 


38  Charles  Stokes  (178S-1853)  was  a  member  of  the  Stock 
Exchange.  "  Careless  of  fame  he  labored  indefatigably  to  advance 
science." 

"Robert  Chambers  (1S02-71).  In  1844  "there  was  published 
an  anonymous  work  on  the  'Vestiges  of  the  Natural  History  of 
Creation,'  a  work  in  which  the  sincere  desire  of  the  author  '  was  to 
give  the  true  view,  of  the  history  of  Nature,  with  as  little  vexa- 
tious collision  as  possible  with  existing  beliefs,  whether  philosophical 
or  religious.'  Needless  to  say,  it  not  only  created  a  sensation  and 
went  through  four  editions  in  seven  months,  but  it  also  raised  a 
storm  of  opposition.  The  authorship,  long  surmised  to  be  that 
of  Robert  Chambers,  was  not  publicly  announced  until  1884." 


438  JAMES  HALL 

able.  All  great  work  is*  done  in  solitude  and  the 
indifference  of  neighbors.  You  have  been  magnificently 
favoured  and  will  be  known  for  ages  to  come  as  the 
father  and  creator  of  a  new  science  —  all  sublime." 

Oct.  22,  1877.  "  I  am  85  full,  but  as  I  know  where  I  shall 
soon  go  I  am  content  and  happy.  *  *  *  I  congratu- 
late you  on  being  immortalized  as  the  High  Priest  of 
American  Palaeon'y." 

Mar.  5,  1879.  "  My  gold  medal  has  just  been  awarded  to 
Cope,  the  reptile-describer,  a  very  good  award.  Our 
Lyell's  medal  goes  to  Hebert  of  Paris,  Wollaston's  to 
Studer  of  Switzerland  and  Murchison's  to  McCoy35  of 
Australia. 

July  15,  1879.  At  86  years  and  6  months  Bigsby  is  working 
eagerly  at  his  "  Thesaurus  Permianus." 

Nov.  27,  1879.  His  last  letter.  Bigsby  is  now  87  years  old 
and  is  still  at  work.  His  life  stretched  over  almost 
exactly  the  same  span  of  years  as  Hall's.  He  writes : 
"  Having  had  a  pleasant  and  good  life  and  having  a 
happy  trust  in  my  Savjour  I  am  ready  to  depart." 

The  Story  of  the  Cardiff  Giant 

Amid  distinctions  and  in  spite  of  constantly  mak- 
ing such  trouble  for  himself  as  he  could  not  borrow, 
Hall  had  until  now  been  wary  enough  not  to  delib- 
erately put  his  foot  in  a  trap.  But  his  time  had 
come,  and  in  these  years  he  abruptly  achieved 

"Sir  Frederick  McCoy  (1823-99).  His  palaeontological  labors 
with  Sedgwick  brought  him  early  distinction.  Afterward  he  became 
professor  in  Queen's  College,  Belfast,  but  in  1854  went  to  the  Uni- 
versity of  Melbourne  and  eventually  attained  recognition  as  the 
leading  naturalist  of  Australia. 


CARDIFF    GIANT  439 

a  notoriety  which  in  the  public  mouth  long  over- 
topped all  his  scientific  honors.  When  I  came  to 
Albany  my  colleagues  cautioned  me  that  it  would 
be  wise  not  to  make  any  inquiries  of  Mr.  Hall  as 
to  his  acquaintance  with  the  Cardiff  Giant.  I  cer- 
tainly entertained  no  such  intention,  for  this  splen- 
did humbug  lay  back  of  my  recollection.  It  is  said 
that  P.  T.  Barnum  gazed  upon  the  silent  form  of 
this  Stone  Goliath,  this  "  lapideous  enigma,"  when 
on  exhibition  in  the  Apollo  Hall,  New  York, 
"  with  admiration  beaming  from  his  face,"  at  the 
audacity  which  conceived  and  carried  off  so  stu- 
pendous a  hoax.  A  more  uproarious  farce  was 
never  launched  upon  the  credulity  of  a  humbug- 
loving  people  and  seldom  has  the  press  had  oppor- 
tunity for  such  fun  with  the  "  apostles  of  slippered 
erudition "  as  in  the  autumn  months  of  1869 
when  the  great  stone  fellow  was  born  back 
of  William  C.  Sewell's  barn  in  the  village  of  Car- 
diff, in  Onondaga  county.  Seventeen  years  had 
passed  before  I  came  upon  the  scene  of  its  antics 
in  Albany,  but  the  laughs  which  had  been  excited 
throughout  the  community  by  the  jocose  sallies  of 
the  junior  editor  of  the  New  York  Tribune,  White- 
law  Reid,  were  still  echoing  on  the  Albany  streets. 
The  Cardiff  Giant,  a  gypsum  man,  ten  and  a  half 
feet  long,  nude,  virile  and  unabashed,  dug  up  in  the 
dark  of  an  October  night  in  Onondaga  county  (the 
same  county  which  produced  the  bogus  "  Pompey- 


440  JAMES  HALL 

Stone,"  with  its  date  of  "  1589,"  acclaimed  by  his- 
torians for  two  generations  as  the  earliest  record 
of  the  white  man  in  these  parts  of  America), 
warmed  the  community  at  once  into  an  ecstasy  of 
learned  speculation  and  casuistry,  to  the  immense 
profit  of  its  proprietors.  While  it  lay  in  the  pit  out 
of  which  it  was  digged,  this  male  sphinx  behind 
Newell's  barn  became  the  mecca  not  more  of  the  un- 
learned than  of  the  knowing;  anatomists  and  sculp- 
tors, geologists,  historians  and  the  cognoscenti  at 
large.  The  "  Giant "  was  hardly  "  cold  "  before 
Doctor  John  F.  Boynton  wrote  to  Professor  Henry 
Morton,  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  full 
particulars  of  the  "  grand  old  sleeper "  whose 
"  chin  is  magnificent  and  generous,"  whose  "  eye- 
brow is  well  arched,"  whose  "  mouth  is  pleasant,  the 
brow  and  forehead  noble  "  and  who  on  the  whole 
"  reminded  him  of  DeWitt  Clinton,"  though  the 
Doctor  discards  the  supposition  that  the  creature 
had  ever  passed  from  life  into  limestone !  Indeed,  by 
the  sophisticated  the  idea  that  this  majestic  simula- 
crum had  ever  been  instinct  with  life  was  promptly 
dismissed  as  highly  unlikely!  Spencer  F.  Baird, 
writing  from  that  dignified  seat  of  science,  the 
Smithsonian  Institution,  said  the  "  petrification 
theory"  was  "too  absurd."  Erastus  D.  Palmer, 
the  eminent  sculptor,  declared  it  "a  veritable 
statue "  (as  indeed  it  was) ;  and  when  the 
guileless  petrifactionists  pointed  to  the  skin 


CARDIFF   GIANT  441 

pores  out  of  which  the  giant's  bristles  sprouted, 
as  conclusive  proof  of  their  contentions,  the  pro- 
prietors, with  a  wisdom  born  of  the  earth,  invited 
distinguished  and  competent  adjudicators  to  pass 
judgment  on  this  weighty  difference.  Henry  A. 
Ward  of  Rochester  and  Lewis  H.  Morgan,  founder 
of  American  Ethnology,  came  as  experts  on 
anatomy  and  archeology  and  from  Albany  went  a 
distinguished  board  of  survey  —  the  Chancellor  of 
the  University,  the  Secretary  of  the  University  and 
the  State  Geologist.  On  their  arrival,  the  tent  be- 
hind the  Newell  barn  was  cleared  of  paying  visitors 
and  the  party  were  "  left  to  their  undisturbed  inves- 
tigations for  a  full  quarter  of  an  hour."  The  wise 
Chancellor  Pruyn  saw  the  lure  and  was  inscrutable ; 
Secretary  Woolworth  was  gravely  impressed  by 
this  probable  creation  of  the  Jesuit  Missionaries, 
while  Professor  Hall,  solicited  for  an  expression  of 
opinion,  was  content  publicly  to  state  that  "  it  is  the 
most  remarkable  object  yet  brought  to  light  in  the 
country  and  although  perhaps  not  dating  back  to 
the  Stone  age,  is  nevertheless  deserving  the  atten- 
tion of  archeologists."  If  the  story  had  ended  here 
it  might  have  been  with  propriety  to  all,  but  the 
career  of  the  Onondaga  Colossus  had  only  just 
begun.  Captivated  by  his  unembellished  charms  the 
savants  of  Albany  who  were  charged  with  the  cus- 
tody of  the  Geological  Hall  invited  the  calcareous 
humbug  to  a  railed-off  exhibition  place,  rent  free, 


442  JAMES  HALL 

in  the  lecture  room  of  this  State  building,  whilst  in 
the  learned  sessions  of  the  Albany  Institute  they 
solemnly  diagnosed  his  claims  to  recognition.  The 
gate  receipts  were  enormous.  Whatever  in  after 
years  may  have  been  the  traditions  of  Professor 
Hall's  connection  with  this  stone  fellow,  he  was  in 
fact  shrewder  than  all  the  other  "  experts,"  for 
under  cover  of  the  tent  at  Cardiff  he  had  slipped 
out  his  geological  hammer  and  knocked  a  piece  off 
the  giant's  anatomy;  enough  to  enable  him  confi- 
dently to  say  that  the  rock  out  of  which  it  was  made 
did  not  come  from  New  York  State ;  which  was  the 
very  truth  itself. 

With  this  debut  into  the  very  best  society  the 
Giant,  glowing  with  his  Albany  credentials,  went 
on  to  New  York,  where  to  the  horror  of  his  owners 
and  perhaps  to  his  own  imperturbable  delight,  was 
already  on  exhibition  in  "  Wood's  Museum,  for- 
merly Barnum's ;  "  the  only  and  original  'Onondaga 
Stone  Giant/  "  "  Beware  of  Imitation  Giants," 
shouted  the  proprietors  as  the  man  from  Cardiff 
came  down  the  Hudson  to  enter  the  Apollo  Hall.  A 
thousand  dollars  they  would  give  if  the  "Albany 
showmen  "  could  prove  the  assertion  that  theirs  was 
not  the  simon-pure  and  only  original  Giant.  Thus 
the  "  genuine  relic  "  and  his  counterfeit  held  their 
levees  in  show  houses  on  Broadway  only  two  blocks 
apart,  to  the  exquisite  delectation  of  a  public  that 
dearly  loved  so  audacious  a  swindle. 


CARDIFF   GIANT  443 

Little  by  little  the  story  came  out,  run  to  earth 
by  Professor  O.  C.  Marsh,  with  the  help  of  the 
man  from  Fort  Dodge,  la.,  who,  dissatisfied  with 
his  share  of  the  profits,  declared  that  he  "  got  up 
that  giant  "  from  a  block  of  Iowa  gypsum.  It  was 
shipped  to  Cardiff,  hauled  by  night  to  its  burying 
place  and  resuscitated  with  full  attention  to  all 
necessary  details.  While  it  may  be  said  that  this 
preposterous  object  became  no  less  a  sensation  after 
it  had  been  proved  a  hoax  and  continued  on  its  con- 
quering career  until  the  public  grew  weary  of  it, 
it  left  behind  in  New  York  a  train  of  damaged  repu- 
tations, while  the  profane  crowd  only  laughed  at  the 
demolition  made  by  this  rock-hurling  Titan." 


THE  PERIOD  OF  VOLUME  V— 1867-1878— Continued 

2 

First  trip  to  Europe  —  Visits  with  scientific  colleagues  • — 
T.  S.  Hunt  and  the  Quebec  group  —  Personal  relations 
with  State  Surveys;  Michigan,  Maine,  Missouri,  Penn- 
sylvania —  A  Devonian  Forest  in  New  York  —  Legisla- 
tive modes  —  Sale  of  Hall's  collection  —  Relations  with 
the  American  Museum  —  Legislative  and  personal  rela- 
tions —  Ramsay,  Nicholson,  Swallow,  Frederick  Starr, 
Charles  Wachsmuth,  B.  E.  Walker,  David  Boyle  — 
"  Illustrations  of  Devonian  Fossils " —  Opinions  of 
Desor  and  Barrande. 

First  European  trip. 

IN  1872  Hall  made  up  his  mind  to  go  to  Europe. 
He  had  longed  to  go;  his  standing  among  his 
colleagues  there  was  assured  and  they  had 
long  been  urging  him.  But  he  had  spent  his  money 
so  freely  on  his  work,  his  great  collection  and  his 
expensive  family  that  he  never  felt  he  could  afford 
himself  the  trip.  Now  he  was  61  years  old  and 
he  had  just  succeeded  in  selling  to  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania,  through  Lesley  who  was  Pro- 
fessor of  Geology  there,  a  slice  of  his  collection  for 
$10,000.  So  he  had  the  money  and  he  resolved 
upon  this  vacation.  Mrs.  Hall  and  the  children  had 
gone  over  in  1868  and  spent  the  winter  with  Geinitz 
in  Dresden,  thence  to  Switzerland  where  Edward, 
the  younger  son,  was  put  in  school  and  now  they 
had  returned  full  of  messages  and  invitations. 

[444] 


TRIP  TO  EUROPE  445 

His  long  time  friend  Ferdinand  Roemer,  who  had 
visited  him  in  Albany  in  1845,  was  persistent  in 
urging  him.  "  I  have  always  been  hoping  you 
would  pay  a  visit  to  Europe  and  I  still  hope  so,"  he 
wrote  in  1871.  Others  had  been  pressing  him,  as 
we  have  seen :  Desor  from  his  chalet,  "  Combe 
Varin,"  in  the  Jura ;  De  Verneuil  and  Hebert  from 
Paris  and  the  whole  circle  of  British  geologists. 
Murchison  and  Lyell  were  growing  old,  he  must  go 
soon  if  he  were  to  see  them,  and  the  Geological 
Society  of  London  was  to  meet  at  Brighton,  the 
home  of  his  friend  and  fellow  brachiopodist,  David- 
son. 

Desor  writes : 

Combe- Varin,  Canton  d.  Neuchatel 

nth  August,  1872. 
My  dear  Professor  Hall : 

On  my  return  to  this  place  from  an  excursion  in  the  east- 
ern Canton  I  found  a  letter  from  Mrs.  Hall  dated  Albany 
26th  July.  I  was  somewhat  surprised  at  it  supposing  that 
Mrs.  Hall  was  still  at  Munich.  Now  that  she  has  returned  to 
Albany,  it  is  but  fair  that  you  should  have  your  turn,  and  I 
am  delighted  to  hear  that  it  is  going  to  be  so,  and  that  I  shall 
at  last  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  you  at  my  chalet  and 
making  to  you  the  honour  of  the  Jura,  for  you  know  that  I 
am  residing  almost  on  the  top  of  one  of  its  ridges. 

Now  the  question  rises  how  and  where  are  we  to  meet? 
To  answer  this  it  is  proper  that  I  should  say  something  about 
my  own  plans.  It  will  not  be  possible  for  me  to  meet  you 
in  England,  having  to  attend  on  the  i8th  and  I9th  of  this 


446  JAMES  HALL 

month  the  Swiss  Association  for  Natur.  Science  at  Fribourg. 
On  the  2Oth  I  shall  start  for  Brussels,  when  the  Anthropo- 
logical Congress  is  going  to  meet  on  the  22nd.  Now  suppos- 
ing that  you  should  like  to  spend  a  few  days  at  Paris,  after  the 
meeting  of  Brighton,  could  you  not  arrange  things  in  this  way 
that  you  should  meet  me  at  Brussels  about  the  22  and  make 
with  us  the  excursions  which  are  proposed  and  which  will 
be,  I  have  not  the  least  doubt,  most  interesting  to  you?  I 
hope  they  will  show  us  the  most  decisive  proofs  that  Ursus 
spelaeus  and  Mammouth  have  lived  together  with  the  pre- 
historic man.  If  this  programme  should  suit  you,  then  we 
would  after  the  Congress  return  directly  to  this  place  in 
order  to  have  chance  to  study  the  stratigraphy  and  orography 
of  the  Jura  before  the  autumn  prevents  us  from  running 
about.  I  feel  confident  that  a  stay  of  a  few  weeks  at  this 
height  (3000  ft.)  with  some  interesting  objects  to  look  at,  and 
with  a  good  glass  of  wine  to  comfort  you,  will  do  more  for 
the  restoration  of  your  health  than  any  medicine  or  bathing. 

That  I  will  be  most  happy  to  receive  you  under  my  modest 
roof,  you  feel  I  dare  say  no  doubt.  We  have  so  many  things 
to  talk  about  and  so  strange  things  too,  that  I  am  quite  im- 
patient to  see  you. 

If  you  wish  to  write  a  few  lines,  pray  address  them  to  this 
place,  so  that  they  may  reach  me  about  the  16  or  i/th  inst. 
Yours  truly 

E.  DESOR 

We  have  but  few  glimpses  of  his  experiences  on 
this  trip.  He  started  in  the  autumn  and  made  the 
round  of  his  friends  and  we  can  imagine  the  long 
reminiscences  with  Desor  over  days  in  America, 
those  days  when,  as  Desor  himself  put  it  at  this 
time  (1872):  "I  had  to  suffer  from  the  coalition 


VISIT  TO  DESOR  447 

of  ambition  and  perversity  during  my  stay  in  New 
England;"  and  after  his  guest  has  left  Combe 
Varin,  Desor  writes  to  tell  him : 

"  How  happy  I  am  that  you  did  get  along  so  nicely  and 
that,  in  spite  of  the  weather  you  enjoyed  your  Alpine  trip. 
I  feel  assured  that  this  excursion  however  shortened  will 
leave  you  an  everlasting  impression.  It  is  the  peculiarity 
of  the  Swiss  Alps  to  impress  the  mind  more  than  anything 
else,  more  than  the  Ocean,  the  Niagara,  the  desert. 

Pray  give  my  best  regards  to  my  friend  Prof.  Geinitz.  Tell 
him  he  must  come  to  have  his  tree  in  the  avenue.1  I  shall 
write  soon  to  him.  Meanwhile  I  send  him  today  a  copy  of 
my  first  article  on  the  Congress  of  Brussels,  for  his  Review." 

Yours  truly 

E.  DESOR 

One  of  the  visits  had  a  special  bearing  on  Hall's 
work  at  home.  When  in  London  at  the  Jermyn 
Street  Museum  of  the  Geological  Survey  he  saw 
much  of  T.  Rupert  Jones,  an  indefatigable  worker 
on  the  groups  of  the  diminutive  fossil  Rhizopods 
and  Entomostraca.  Jones  afterwards  refers  to 
their  meeting  as  "  that  delightful  Entomostracan 
day  "  —  just  as  delightful  no  doubt  as  an  "  elephant 
day  "  would  have  been  to  souls  content  only  with 
the  more  obvious.  Hall  then  proposed  to  Jones  to 
collaborate  with  him  in  preparing  an  account  of  the 
Entomostraca  of  New  York.  Professor  Jones  was 

*He  planted  a  tree  in  the  name  of  each  of  his  distinguished 
guests.  Hall  was  to  have  his  later. 


448  JAMES  HALL 

very  willing  but  Hall  never  carried  out  his  part  nor 
ever  published  an  account  of  these  fossils.  Singu- 
larly enough  Professor  Jones  did  have  the  oppor- 
tunity many  years  later  to  revise  and  determine 
many  of  the  New  York  species  and  his  interest  in 
them  was  so  warmly  appreciated  at  Albany  that 
Jones  eventually  made  over  to  the  State  Museum  all 
his  extensive  accumulations  of  specimens,  notes  and 
manuscripts  on  this  group  of  crustaceans. 

T.  Sterry  Hunt  and  the  "  Quebec  group  "  again. 

The  relations  which  had  grown  up  between  Hall 
and  T.  Sterry  Hunt  during  the  active  years  of 
Logan's  Survey  of  Canada  had  been  intimate  and 
governed  by  mutual  regard.  Hunt  was  the  versa- 
tile and  brilliant  genius  of  that  Survey,  and  though 
not  pretending  to  a  refined  knowledge  of  geological 
science,  he  had  unquestionably  carried  the  study  of 
terrestrial  chemistry  farther  than  any  one  of  his 
time  in  America.  The  extraordinary  excellence 
and  suggestiveness  of  his  researches  were  exempli- 
fied in  his  "  Chemical  and  Geological  Essays,"  a 
book  which  had  no  equal  in  the  English  language. 
In  Logan's  work  on  the  difficult  problems  of  the 
Laurentian,  Hunt's  aid  was  of  great  importance. 
Much  progress  has  been  made  in  geochemistry  and 
geophysics  during  the  past  two  decades  and  it  has 
been  somewhat  the  fashion  to  speak  lightly  of 
Hunt  and  his  work.  The  vagarious  philosophies 


THE  QUEBEC  GROUP  449 

of  his  later  years  should  not  impose  any  shadow 
on  the  achievements  of  his  prime. 

In  the  years  which  directly  followed  Logan's 
retirement  from  the  Canadian  Survey  there  was  a 
plan  projected  for  a  mining  school  in  connection 
with  the  Survey.  "  Sir  William,"  writes  Hunt  in 
November,  1869,  "  now  that  he  will  be  free  from 
any  responsibility  therein,  takes  much  interest  in 
the  scheme  and  will  present  the  school  all  his  books 
and  instruments  in  all  valued  at  $6,000."  In  this 
school  Hunt  was  to  have  a  part  which  seemed  to 
gratify  him  because  the  new  regime  in  the  Survey 
had  obliged  him  "  to  resign  my  little  lectureships  at 
Quebec  and  here  [Montreal]  and  I  still  get  only 
$1,600  a  year." 

At  that  time  Hunt  was  much  in  Albany  and  he 
was  not  without  tender  leanings  toward  Hall's 
younger  daughter,  Anna.  He  was  a  skillful  lec- 
turer and  very  much  sought  for  in  the  States,  his 
appearance  in  the  Cooper  Union  course  in  New 
York  in  1869  where  he  lectured  on  "  Mountains 
and  Valleys,"  having  drawn  "  an  audience  of  2,000 
people,"  and  his  lectures  at  Cornell  University  were 
highly  acceptable. 

Hunt  took  an  adjutant's  part  in  the  exacerbating 
discussion  over  the  "  Quebec  Group "  and  Hall 
was  explicit  to  him  in  setting  forth  his  own  atti- 
tude in  the  matter.  The  following  letter  from 
Hall  to  Hunt  has  historic  interest : 

29 


450  JAMES  HALL 

MY  DEAR  HUNT:     *     *     *  ALBANY,  June  29,  1872. 

The  truth  is  it  was  Sir  William's  pertinacious  obstinacy 
which  prevented  the  acknowledgment  of  the  Primordial 
character  of  the  fossils  [the  trilobites  of  Georgia,  Vt.]  long 
before  Barrande  had  written  to  me  as  he  did  Billings  and 
insisted  upon  the  correct  view  being  taken.  I  wrote  and 
spoke  to  Sir  William  again  and  again  but  all  to  no  purpose. 
From  the  beginning  of  my  examination  of  the  Quebec 
Graptolites  I  called  his  attention  to  the  fact  that  they  were 
all  of  different  species  from  ours  here  in  the  Hudson  River 
Group  but  it  had  no  effect.  He  sent  down  collections  of 
Graptolites  from  the  Marsouin  which  I  at  once  recognized 
as  identical  with  ours  at  Albany,  and  I  called  his  attention 
to  the  fact.  There  was  reason  enough  for  him  to  distrust  his 
determination  of  structure  but  any  suggestion  of  this  kind 
was  met  by  him  jn  his  usual  positive  way. 

When  I  had  completed  the  description  of  the  Georgia 
Trilobites  I  wrote  a  paragraph  showing  their  similarity  to 
those  of  the  upper  stage  of  the  Primordial  and  suggesting  as 
an  only  explanation  (consider  the  structure  given  by  Sir 
William  as  evidence)  that  these  had  lived  at  a  later  period. 
So  convinced  was  I  at  that  time,  spring  and  summer  of  1859, 
that  those  should  be  regarded  as  of  Primordial  age,  that  I 
did  not  publish  the  paper  till  I  could  see  Sir  William  at 
Springfield.  He  was  then  very  emphatic  in  his  expression 
that  the  age  of  those  slates  was  not  only  Hudson  River  but 
they  were  even  in  the  highest  part  of  that  group  and  this  not 
only  in  the'  face  of  my  statement  of  their  Primordial  charac- 
ter but  that  of  Barrande  also.  Even  at  a  later  date  when  I 
had  written  an  article  expressing  my  views  to  send  to  Silli- 
man's  Journal,  Sir  William  emphatically  declared  against  an 
admission  of  anything  looking  to  an  acknowledgment  of  a 
lower  horizon.  Certainly  when  it  became  necessary  to 


GEOLOGICAL  SURVEYS  451 

abandon  that  ground  I  expected  he  would  be  willing  to  bear 
his  share  of  the  blame  and  act  like  a  man.  I  very  well 
remember  that  Sir  William  always  maintained  the  higher 
position  of  the  Pt  Levis  beds  and  in  1854  showed  me  how  the 
Utica  and  Lower  Hudson  River  passed  below  them.  *  *  * 

You  are  r,ight  in  saying  that  Rogers  and  not  the  New  York 
Survey  originated  the  opinion  that  the  rocks  of  East.  New 
York  and  Western  Mass,  were  of  the  age  of  Hudson  River. 
It  has  always  appeared  to  me  that  it  was  not  Billing's  own 
determination  so  much  as  the  persistence  of  Barrande  in 
demanding  the  recognition  of  the  Primordial  character  of  the 
fossils  as  he  had  done  in  his  letters  to  me. 

I  am  not  very  much  surprised  at  what  you  say  about  Mur- 
chison  though  it  is  worse  than  I  had  supposed.  I  know  the 
spirit,  for  in  1845  I  proposed  to  recognize  certain  of  our 
rocks  as  Cambrian  and  I  got  a  letter  from  Murchison  pro- 
testing that  such  a  course  would  be  robbing  him.  *  *  * 

Now  one  word  about  Emmons  and  the  Taconic.  It  was 
never  an  original  idea  of  his.  It  was  Eaton's  and  both 
Emmons  and  myself  were  taught  it  by  Eaton.  I  was  led  to 
abandon  that  view  from  rinding  that  the  fossils  near  Troy, 
at  Waterford  and  other  places  on  the  Hudson  were  identical 
with  those  of  the  shales  above  the  Trenton  limestone  in 
Oneida  and  Oswego  counties. 

Eaton's  First  Grauwacke  extended  to  the  west  side  of  the 
Hudson  River  and  was  long  ago  as  clearly  defined  and 
described  as  Emmons  ever  did  his  Taconic  System.  Em- 
mons's  impossible  sections  do  not  add  to  the  value  of  his 
assumptions.  *  *  * 

Various  Geological  Surveys  and  Personal  Relations. 

The  effort  made  by  the  friends  of  Alexander 

Winchell  to  secure  for  him  in  1869  the  appointment 


452  JAMES  HALL 

of  State  Geologist  of  Michigan,  seems  to  have 
started  a  general  outcry  among  the  geological 
fraternity.  There  have  been  few  such  successful 
teachers  and  popular  writers  on  this  science  as  was 
Winchell,  and  certainly  in  that  field  he  was  supreme 
in  this  country.  A  native  of  eastern  New  York 
and  now  with  a  period  to  his  credit  of  active  serv- 
ice in  the  State  University  of  Michigan,  he  felt  him- 
self, as  he  was  perhaps  right  in  doing,  the  logical 
appointee  to  the  place.  But  of  geological  work 
Winchell  had  not  much  of  importance  to  his  credit, 
so  we  find  Logan,  Hunt  and  Agassiz  writing  to  Hall 
to  protest  the  appointment,  the  latter  urging  Hall 
to  take  the  place  himself ;  and  Sanf ord  Howard,  a 
Commissioner  for  the  new  Survey,  seeking  advice 
upon  the  matter,  intimates  that  Hall  might  have 
the  position.  And  then  Hall  writes  to  Governor 
Baldwin,  answering  Winchell's  appeal  for  his  en- 
dorsement, to  assure  him  that  though  Winchell  is  a 
good  man  the  Governor  might  do  wisely  to  look  into 
the  thing  carefully  and  perhaps  he  might  find  some 
one  outside  the  State  who  would  fill  the  bill.  In 
reality  Mr.  Hall  was  much  more  interested  in  the  ad- 
vancement of  Dr.  Carl  Rominger  to  whom  we  have 
already  referred  as  having  come  to  him  with  letters 
from  Baron  von  Humboldt  and  Barrande  in  1848. 
For  twenty  years  Rominger  had  been  practising 
medicine  and  cultivating  palaeontology  and  he  had 


CARL  ROMINGER  453 

long  been  an  intimate  and  helpful  correspondent 
giving  freely,  up  to  this  time,  of  his  very  refined 
researches.  Hall's  influence  got  for  Rominger  a 
position  on  the  Michigan  Survey  and  he  soon  suc- 
ceeded to  the  directorship  (1873)  which  he  held  on 
to  with  a  grim  determination  that  survived  the 
Survey  itself.  Rominger  was  a  gentle,  keen,  gen- 
erous and  obstinate  geologist  with  abilities  of  a 
high  order  and  he  gave  distinction  to  his  official 
career  by  issuing  a  volume  on  the  fossil  palaeozoic 
corals  which  was  and  probably  is  yet  the  best  book 
of  its  kind  printed  in  this  country.  That  he  was  a 
palaeontologist  did  not  lessen  the  worth  of  his  con- 
clusions on  the  other  phases  of  his  work.  Hall 
distressed  him  grievously  by  printing  a  series  of 
plates  of  corals  just  as  his  own  work  on  these  things 
was  completed,  but  he  turns  from  his  repudiation  of 
such  treatment  to  write  out  a  recipe  for  coffee-bread 
for  Mrs.  Hall.  Rominger  gives  a  pleasant  picture 
of  his  simple  but  productive  mode  of  working  in  a 
letter  of  1878. 

"  In  the  quiet  way  I  prosecute  my  work,  with  small  expense 
to  the  State,  I  find  no  opposition  and  everybody  lets  me  go 
my  own  course,  but  I  think  the  case  would  be  different  as 
soon  as  I  would  claim  assistants  and  increase  of  appropria- 
tions. Fortunately  I  do  not  believe  that  with  assistants  I 
could  work  more  successfully  than  I  do  at  present,  therefore 
I  need  no  larger  appropriations  and  have  in  all  things  my 
own  way,  not  to  the  disadvantage  of  the  State." 


454  JAMES  HALL 

In  Maine  also,  Hall  was  lending  a  hand  to  Charles 
H.  Hitchcock  by  personally  urging  the  matter  of 
a  geological  survey  on  the  attention  of  the  State 
legislature.  The  appeal  brought  forth  some  fruit 
as  Mr.  Hitchcock  was  invited  to  lecture  before  the 
legislature  and  set  forth  the  claims  of  the  science 
and  the  happy  outcome  was  an  appropriation  for 
the  undertaking  of  which  he  was  to  be  head,  the 
lordly  sum  of  $3,500  a  year  being  allotted  to  this 
enterprise.  This  was  in  1868.  Maine  still  bears 
witness,  in  the  totally  incompetent  official  knowl- 
edge of  its  geological  and  mineral  resources  to  the 
folly  of  such  trivial  treatment  of  important  State 
concerns. 

There  were  at  this  time  too,  geological  "  goings- 
on  "  in  Missouri.  The  survey  under  the  charge  of 

A.  D.  Hagar  had  not  proved  satisfactory  and  there 
seems  to  have  been  such  a  violent  confusion  of 
claims  and  rights  to  work  done  in  that  State  by 
Shumard,  G.  C.  Swallow  and  Hagar,  that  Governor 

B.  Gratz  Brown  proposed  to  wipe  out  their  conten- 
tions and  start  afresh.     Thus  in  1871  there  were 
various  seekers  for  this  distinction  and  through 
Hall's    help    the   American    Association    for    the 
Advancement  of  Science  made  an  appeal  to  Gov- 
ernor Brown  to  at  least  let  Swallow  print  his  com- 
pleted investigations.  Swallow  writes  in  November 
that  T.  Sterry  Hunt  "  can  not  get  it.    You  stand 
the  best  chance  of  all  but  myself.    The  people  are 


GEOLOGY  IN  MISSOURI  455 

pressing  the  Governor  to  appoint  me."  But  mean- 
while this  letter  came  from  Forest  Shepherd  of  St. 
Louis,  who  says : 

"  I  am  a  director  in  the  Geol.  Surv.  of  Mo.  and  at  my  men- 
tion of  your  name  his  Excellency  Gov.  B.  Gratz  Brown 
desired  me  to  write  you  and  ascertain  whether  we  can  offer 
you  sufficient  inducement  to  take  charge  of  the  State  Geologi- 
cal Survey  now  in  the  hands  of  Albert  D.  Hagar.  I  am  well 
aware  that  others  have  endeavored  to  rob  you  of  your  hard 
earned  laurels  amid  the  western  rocks  and  it  would  give  me 
sincere  pleasure  to  welcome  you  to  the  office  of  State  Geolo- 
gist of  the  Great  State  of  Missouri  with  its  multitudinous 
rock  formations." 

The  call  was  loud;  it  must  have  gratified  and 
tempted  Hall;  but  he  put  it  aside  and  the  outcome 
was  the  appointment  of  Raphael  Pumpelly  who 
seems  to  have  had  the  cordial  support  of  the  people 
during  his  brief  incumbency.2 

Professor  Hall's  relations  with  J.  Peter  Lesley 
were  always  intimate  and  often  interesting.  In 
1870,  Lesley  was  in  the  heat  of  the  efforts  to  organ- 
ize a  new  Geological  Survey  for  Pennsylvania,  and 
by  virtue  of  his  many  geological  activities  in  a 
variety  of  private  enterprises  and  his  devotion  to  his 
State  as  shown  by  the  refusal  to  go  to  Cornell  Uni- 
versity, he  was  in  position  to  give  effective  help  to 
this  campaign.  He  writes  this  year  from  the 
"  Office  of  the  United  States  Railroad  and  Mining 

2  Mr.   Pumpelly  resigned   in   1873. 


456  JAMES  HALL 

Register  "  which  he  was  editing  at  423  Walnut 
street :  "  Our  bill  hangs  in  Committee  but  there  is 
a  universal  call  for  the  Survey.  Genth,  Lesquereux, 
Hodge  and  Sheafer  will  make  a  strong  team."  This 
letter  is  brilliantly  illustrated  with  hopes  and  with 
pen  sketches  of  Appalachian  geology,  but  its  hopes 
failed  to  come  true.  In  March,  1871,  Lesley  says: 
"  If  we  can  overcome  the  opposition  of  the  Phila 
members  it  [the  Survey  bill]  will  pass  the  house 
and  then  easily  the  Senate.  *  *  *  Sterry  Hunt 
writes  me  that  he  wants  to  take  the  Laurentian  and 
Quebec  part  of  the  Survey.  That  would  suit  me 
exactly  and  you  would  agree  with  me,  I  think,  that 
nobody  could  do  better."  The  chickens  were 
counted  but  the  eggs  failed  to  hatch.  "  Our  disap- 
pointment at  Harrisburg,"  he  says  a  few  weeks 
later,  "  was  very  great  but  we  shall  work  this  year 
to  make  it  right  next  winter."  In  the  winter  of 
1872  all  enthusiasm  submerged  and  not  till  1873 
[March  29]  does  the  characteristic  message  come. 
"Important  news!  (1)  Mary  [his  daughter]  fell 
off  a  stepladder  and  was  severely  hurt.  (2)  State 
Survey  bill  with  $50,000  and  6  assistants  has  passed 
twice  in  the  House."  April  13:  "Our  legislature 
is  dead,  thank  God,  and  the  Devil  take  it.  It  died 
in  convulsions  of  folly."  Let  us  watch  the  fight  on 
to  its  conclusion.  In  1874  Lesley  started  in  again 
and  writes  in  April :  "  We  are  in  the  thick  of  it 
over  our  bill.  Ten  Commissioners  to  appoint  a 


GEOLOGY  IN  PENNSYLVANIA      457 

chief  geologist,  he  to  appoint  his  assistants.  The 
Board  to  control.  The  Chief  to  make  a  plan.  It 
may  pass  the  Senate  this  week  and  the  House  next 
month.  How  it  will  work  in  practise  I  can  not  tell." 
Hall  writes  to  advise  Lesley  not  to  sacrifice  his  inde- 
pendence by  submitting  to  a  Board  of  Commission- 
ers but  the  provision  was  made  and  the  Survey 
organized  under  such  Board,  and  with  this  start 
began  the  Second  Geological  Survey  with  Lesley 
at  its  head.  But  Lesley's  appointment  was  not 
made  without  a  struggle  and  we  find  a  letter  from 
William  A.  Ingham,  one  of  the  Commissioners 
hesitating  to  endorse  Mr.  Lesley  as  some  of  the 
University  men  in  Philadelphia  were  opposed  and 
Professor  George  H.  Barker,  then  at  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania,  speaks  of  "  the  Chandler  and  the 
Asa  Packer  influence  "  as  favoring  Dr.  J.  P.  Kim- 
ball  of  New  York,  while  another  "  formidable  can- 
didate "  was  George  H.  Cook  of  New  Jersey.  Mr. 
Hall  wrote  pointedly  on  this  subject  and  seems  to 
have  removed  all  doubt  of  Lesley's  fitness. 

Together  Lesley  and  Hall  discussed  the  personnel 
of  the  new  Survey,  and  we  find  them  mutually  bor- 
rowing from  each  other;  Lesley  takes  Andrew 
Sherwood,  Hall  borrows  the  services  of  J.'F.  Carll, 
the  petroleum  expert.  Lesley  thinks  of  putting  in 
his  service  S.  W.  Ford  of  Troy,  N.  Y.,  who  had 
been  making  important  discoveries  in  the  Cambrian 
of  that  region.  He  does  appoint  young  Edward 


458  JAMES  HALL 

Hall  and  at  Hall's  request  promises  an  appoint- 
ment to  John  J.  Stevenson,  to  be  effective  in  1875. 
In  characteristic  fashion  Lesley  had  gone  to  Europe 
as  soon  as  his  Survey  was  provided  for  (1874)  and 
goes  again  in  1878  for  the  Paris  Congress  and  he 
and  Hall  met  frequently  on  this  trip.  On  this  sec- 
ond visit  to  which  we  are  to  make  reference  again 
Hall  thought  it  would  be  a  pleasant  arrangement 
if  Lesley  would  join  him,  whereat  he  receives  this 
intimation : 

1008  Clinton  Street 
PHILADELPHIA 

June  24th,  1878. 
MY  DEAR  HALL  : 

After  writing  you  and  mailing  it  occurred  to  me  that  you 
ought  to  know  my  private  plans.  I  go  with  my  daughter 
to  escape  from  intercourse  with  people  and  to  forget  the 
survey.  I  take  her  for  protection  and  service.  She  takes 
care  of  me.  We  travel  off  the  ordinary  routes,  and  have 
rejected  all  offers  of  companionship.  By  the  time  I  get  into 
the  Alps  I  will  be  well  enough,  or  rested  enough,  to  see 
friends.  As  you  say  in  your  letter  that  you  go  straight  to 
the  Alps,  I  sincerely  hope  that  you  will  let  me  know  where 
there,  that  I  may  hunt  you  up,  and  especially  if  you  and  I 
can  have  some  cozy  days  of  dolce  far  niente  at  Combe 
Varin,  or  the  Bel  Alp  with  Tyndall  and  his  wife,  and  then 
travel  slowly  together  towards  Paris.  I  am  however  a  very 
awkward  and  capricious  companion  on  a  journey,  very  abso- 
lute in  my  will,  petulant  about  details,  and  in  a  word  as 
lawless  —  as  I  am  a  slave  to  rule  at  all  other  times. 

How  delicious  it  is  to  spread  one's  wings  broadly  and 
soar  and  swoop  and  circle  lazily  and  capriciously  at  the 


APPALACHIAN    SYSTEM  459 

instigation  of  the  moment,  in  rebellion  against  the  whole 
universe  because  it  is  so  overregulated,  and  escape  from  its 
daily  musts  and  shalls  and  shants  into  solitary  air,  filled 
with  new,  stimulating  sights  and  sounds,  to  which  one  does 
not  belong,  and  therefore  bears  the  load  of  no  relationship ! 
Such  is  the  experience  I  got  in  1874  and  in  1876,  and 
intend  to  get  aga,in  this  summer.  Mary  and  I  have  grown 
to  be  like  one  person,  thinking  and  feeling  alike  in  all  things, 
she  strong  and  young,  I  capable  of  regaining  all  of  my 
youthfulness  in  a  week  or  two  at  any  time.  We  disappear 
from  society  together  like  twin  knight-errants  seeking  ad- 
ventures, and  refusing  other  companionship ;  enjoying  every 
chance  stranger ;  hunting  up  strange  places,  and  now  and 
then  favorite  old  haunts, —  I  am  interrupted. 

Yours  ever 
LESLEY. 

And  as  we  are  speaking  of  Lesley,  we  may  here 
refer  to  a  letter  written  soon  after  their  return  and 
evidently  prompted  by  Hall's  experience  and  per- 
sonal touch  which  he  had  now  acquired  with  the 
work  of  his  European  colleagues.  In  this  Pro- 
fessor Hall  proposed  to  introduce  the  term  "Appa- 
lachian System  "  as  equivalent  to  the  term  Palaeo- 
zoic. This  important  suggestion  was  obviously 
made  with  full  comprehension  both  of  the  distinc- 
tive physiographic  development  of  Appalachia  in 
contrast  to  the  procedure  in  the  rest  of  North 
America  and  in  Europe,  as  well  as  in  the  expression 
of  its  life  record.  Today  we  can  not  fail  to  recog- 
nize the  appropriateness  of  this  term  that  would 


460  JAMES  HALL 

thus  have  designated  the  special  peculiarities  of 
Appalachian  structure  and  history.  It  was  too  late 
to  make  the  substitution ;  it  was  not,  in  fact,  a  term 
which  could  be  used  in  place  of  the  biological  word 
Palaeozoic,  but  it  finds  itself,  in  somewhat  broad- 
ened application  perhaps,  in  the  more  purely  geo- 
graphical name  of  Appalachia. 

A  Devonian  Forest. 

"  Petrified  Forests  "  are  among  the  sensational 
things  in  geology.  The  Arizona  jasper  forests  of 
Triassic  age,  the  standing  trunks  in  the  Coal  Meas- 
ures of  South  Joggins  in  Nova  Scotia,  the  Purbeck 
forest  beds  of  England,  are  all  obvious  marvels. 
It  happened  to  Hall  in  1870  to  bring  to  light  an  older 
forest  growth  than  any  of  these  named  or  before 
known.  This  was  the  discovery  of  a  number  of 
great  trunks  and  spreading  roots  of  giant  trees,  of 
still  unknown  nature,  in  the  Devonian  sandstones  at 
Gilboa,  a  village  in  the  upper  Schoharie  valley,  a 
place  now  about  to  be  submerged  under  the  im- 
pounded waters  of  the  Schoharie  creek,  which  are  to 
become  a  contributory  to  the  New  York  City  water 
supply  system.  Five  or  six  of  these  trunks  were 
found  erect  in  these  rocks,  and  most  of  them  are 
now  in  the  State  Museum,  absolutely  unique  illus- 
trations of  the  Devonian  land  flora.  Recently  this 
ancient  forest  has  been  rediscovered  and  the  record 
enlarged  by  finding  two  other  growths  of  them  at 


LEGISLATION,  OLD  STYLE         461 

other  levels  in  the  rocks.  Dawson  was  then  writing 
on  Devonian  plants  and  gave  a  brief  account  of 
these  trees,  but  left  their  real  nature  to  be  deter- 
mined and  their  interesting  story  still  remains  to  be 
told. 

Legislative  Modes. 

Occasionally  we  catch  a  glimpse,  among  the  in- 
cessant demands  for  financial  support  to  the 
Palaeontology,  addressed  to  speakers  of  the  House 
and  chairmen  of  Finance  Committees,  of  the  easy 
way  the  business  of  the  State  Museum  was  trans- 
acted. Out  of  a  beneficent  heart,  Mr.  Erastus 
Corning,  the  ironmaster  of  Albany,  advanced,  in 
1871,  the  purchase  price  of  the  Jewett  Collection  of 
New  York  Fossils  and  the  Emmons  Collection  of 
Minerals,  both  of  great,  the  latter  of  unique  merit. 
The  money  is,  it  is  confidently  assumed,  to  be  paid 
back  by  legislative  enactment  and  when  the  item 
for  such  repayment  fails  to  appear  in  the  appro- 
priation bill,  Mr.  Hall  writes  to  the  Chairman  of 
the  Committee  (Jarvis  Lord)  expressing  an 
aggrieved  surprise  at  its  action,  in  view  of  the 
great  service  these  collections  were  to  the  Museum, 
and  so  the  reimbursement  is  goodnaturedly  made. 
Would  that  such  good  nature  still  survived! 

And  one  of  his  failures  at  this  time  was  to 
induce  the  legislature  to  buy  the  two  collections  of 
Trenton  and  other  fossils  made  by  Charles  D.  Wai- 


462  JAMES  HALL 

cott  and  his  associate  Mr.  Rust.  This  was  in  1873 
and  the  effort  was  the  first  contact  between  Hall 
and  Walcott.  The  beauty  and  perfection  of  these 
fossils  from  the  Trenton  limestone  deeply  impressed 
Professor  Hall,  and  his  urgent  recommendations 
are  expressed  to  Senator  Daniel  P.  Wood  in  glow- 
ing terms.  "  The  collection,"  he  writes,  "  far  ex- 
ceeds in  number,  beauty  and  perfection  all  the  col- 
lections that  have  been  made  from  the  Trenton 
limestone  in  New  York  or  in  the  United  States 
during  the  past  fifty  years.  No  language  can  con- 
vey an  adequate  idea  of  the  beauty  and  perfection 
of  the  trilobites,  etc."  But  even  from  his  strong 
friend,  Senator  Wood,  whose  public  help  to  science 
Hall  in  his  later  years  commemorated  with  a  gold 
medal  (now  in  possession  of  his  daughter  Mrs. 
George  Huntington  Williams),  he  had  to  accept  the 
fatal  but  historic  reply  so  familiar  to  official  sci- 
ence: "Not  this  year." 

Sale  of  his  Collection. 

Professor  Agassiz's  death  in  1873,  when  the 
great  teacher  had  hardly  passed  his  prime,  was  a 
profound  deprivation  to  American  education.  To 
Hall  his  friendship  and  counsel  had  been  invalu- 
able for  25  years  and  the  loss  was  deeply  personal. 
The  quality  of  Agassiz's  friendship  and  devotion 
may  be  seen  in  one  of  his  last  letters  (June  1873) 
in  which  he  refers  to  the  generous  gift  of  money 


SALE  OF  HIS  COLLECTION        463 

($100,000)  made  to  him  by  his  son  and  daughter, 
and  his  disposition  to  use  it  for  the  acquisition  of 
Hall's  now  tremendous  collection.  Except  for  this, 
the  hope  which  they  both  had  nourished  for  years, 
was  gone  —  for  the  Boston  friends  afforded  no 
anchorage.  Hall  replies  to  Agassiz's  suggestion: 
"  I  do  not  think  it  right  to  apply  this  to  the  purchase 
of  my  collection.  It  is  intended  for  your  own  per- 
sonal use  but  even  in  that  way  it  will  be  available 
to  do  much  good  for  the  Museum  and  for  science." 
I  think  this  is  the  last  communication  that  passed 
between  the  two  —  a  fair  expression  of  the  same 
mutual  regard  which  brought  them  together.  The 
son,  Alexander  Agassiz,  was  unable  to  hold  out  any 
hope  of  realizing  his  father's  purpose  with  refer- 
ence to  the  collection  and  on  April  10,  1874,  writes : 

"  Father  has  left .  me  a  load  to  carry  such  as  it  is 
impossible  for  any  one  to  carry  without  breaking  down 
under  it.  I  am  so  differently  constituted  from  him  that 
although  I  dare  say  the  prospects  I  have  would  seem  to 
him  paradise  yet  to  me  they  appear  so  gloomy  that  I  hardly 
know  where  to  turn  and  I  doubt  if  I  can  stagger  under 
the  load  much  longer."  And  he  feels  compelled  to  termi- 
nate the  matter  by  "  leaving  him  [Hall]  full  liberty  of 
action." 

Thereupon  began  the  negotiations  with  the  new 
Museum  just  organizing  in  New  York  City  through 
the  indefatigable  efforts  of  Albert  S.  Bickmore. 
Mr.  Bickmore  had  been  a  student  with  Agassiz  at 
the  Penekese  School  and  realized  that  for  the  geo- 


464  JAMES  HALL 

logical  part  of  the  Museum  the  Hall  collection 
would  form  a  brilliant  nucleus.  The  collection  was 
sold,  the  Trustees  of  the  Museum  paying  $65,000, 
and  it  may  well  be  a  matter  of  record  that  it  consti- 
tuted the  first  important  acquisition  by  purchase  in 
this  now  great  museum-university,  the  American 
Museum  of  Natural  History,  and  so  was  in  a  sense 
the  center  about  which  its  enormous  scientific  col- 
lections have  grown  up.  It  was  quite  necessary 
for  the  continuation  of  Mr.  Hall's  investigations 
that  he  should  reserve  the  use  of  considerable  parts 
of  the  collections,  but  this  was  with  full  understand- 
ing on  the  part  of  the  trustees.  It  was  an  unavoid- 
able, but  as  it  afterward  unhappily  proved  an  en- 
tangling provision,  though  it  was  sought  to  obviate 
all  embarrassment  by  having  every  specimen  so 
retained  ticketed  with  the  monogram  of  the  Ameri- 
can Museum.  It  was  a  simple  fact  that  Hall  parted 
from  these  scientific  possessions  with  greatest 
reluctance  and  misgiving,  in  spite  of  his  press- 
ing need  of  money.  So  hopeless  was  it  for  him  to 
get  along  without  the  tangible  objects  of  his  study 
that  he  forthwith  proceeded  to  spend  a  part  of  his 
new  money  in  more  fossils,  to  fill  his  thousands  of 
empty  drawers  and  shelves;  and  it  may  be  added 
that  at  his  death  he  left  behind  a  collection  much 
larger  though  probably  of  less  scientific  value  than 
the  one  which  went  to  New  York  City.  For  months 
in  the  year  1875  all  hands  at  Albany  were  engaged 


AMERICAN  MUSEUM  465 

in  the  work  of  packing  and  shipping  this  great 
collection,  aided  by  Dr.  Bickmore  and  his  young 
assistant,  George  Frederick  Kunz. 

With  all  this  money  Hall  was  now  able  to  retrieve 
some  of  his  dubious  ventures  in  North  Carolina  and 
Georgia  gold  mines  and  in  Salisbury  (Conn.)  iron. 
It  is  proverbial  that  when  a  professional  man, 
lawyer,  physician  or  minister  collides  with  a  mining 
proposition  some  tender  foot  is  lacerated ;  but  it  is 
a  most  surprising  thing  that  Hall,  who  had  been 
the  first  to  report  officially  on  the  iron  ores  of  the 
Adirondack  region,  should  have  deliberately  sunk 
one-half  his  money  in  a  carefully  laid  trap  among 
the  magnetites  of  Essex  County.  But  he  was  just 
such  a  curiously  confiding  man,  forever  trusting  the 
plausible  stranger,  even  while  distrusting  his  most 
devoted  friends. 

An  annoying  issue  arose  from  the  transfer  of  the 
Hall  collection  to  New  York,  which  came  near  dis- 
aster for  the  State  Museum.  Mr.  Bickmore  and 
his  friends  seemed  to  feel  that  now  having  posses- 
sion of  the  Hall  fossils  with  a  large  number  of  the 
type  specimens  on  which  the  "  Palaeontology  of 
New  York  "  was  founded,  it  would  be  a  very  fine 
thing  to  get  possession  of  the  entire  State  Museum ; 
that  is  to  transfer  the  Museum  and  all  its  activi- 
ties, including  even  Professor  Hall  himself,  to  New 
York  City.  Mr.  Whitfield  had  already  been  induced 
to  go  there  because  of  his  indispensable  knowledge 

30 


466  JAMES  HALL 

of  the  collection.  The  American  Museum  then  had 
for  superintendent  of  its  building  —  the  bare  little 
brick  transept  which  stood  so  long  alone  in  its 
nakedness  on  Manhattan  Square  —  a  man  who  took 
vast  pride  in  his  personal  acquaintance  with  all  sorts 
of  politicians  in  every  part  of  the  State,  won  by 
the  help  of  a  warm  hand  at  county  fairs  and  other 
local  meetings.  So  when  the  proposition  was  set 
afoot  in  the  legislature  this  man's  activities  assumed 
a  very  menacing  aspect  as  they  were  quietly  en- 
couraged at  the  New  York  City  Museum.  Then 
Hall  rose  in  his  wrath  against  his  assailants.  He 
found  a  friend  in  New  York  in  Theodore  Roosevelt 
of  the  Museum  trustees  and  another  in  Albany  in 
James  W.  Husted  of  the  Assembly,  whose  smooth 
poll  had  won  for  him  the  sobriquet  of  the  "  Bald 
Eagle  of  Westchester."  These  efforts  together  put 
the  enemy  to  flight  and  the  victory  was  again  com- 
memorated by  a  gold  medal  which  Mr.  Hall  in  his 
old  years  presented  in  memoriam  to  Mr.  Husted. 

Not  all  of  Hall's  legislative  tangles  are  worthy 
of  note.  Some  of  them,  however,  have  left  their 
mark  on  the  record  of  his  work.  In  1873,  Thomas 
G.  Alvord  of  Onondaga  county,  better  known  in  his 
day  as  "  Old  Salt,"  was  a  member  of  the  legislature 
who,  through  some  pernicious  influence,  had  de- 
clared his  purpose  to  "  rip  up  "  the  whole  matter  of 
the  "  Palaeontology  of  New  York  "  which  he  pro- 
ceeded to  do  just  at  the  time  the  work  was  most 


"ALL  HANDS"  467 

deeply  involved  in  many  directions  and  could  be 
easily  wounded.  The  "  Old  Salt's  "  line  of  argu- 
mentation was  to  begin  back  at  the  start  of  the 
Survey  and  charge  all  the  expenditures  of  40  years 
to  Hall  and  then  demand  the  results,  a  rather  showy 
and  specious  procedure.  Alvord  delighted  to  put 
Hall  in  a  difficult  situation  and  was  an  irritating 
thorn  in  the  flesh  for  a  long  time,  until  Hall  sent 
out  a  cry  of  "  all  hands  "  to  his  friends,  Dr.  New- 
berry,  President  F.  A.  P.  Barnard,  Senator  Daniel 
P.  Wood,  James  W.  Husted  of  the  House,  and 
others,  and  the  response  was  so  prompt  and 
effective  that  Alvord  retired  from  the  field. 

"  I  am  sure  that  I  express,"  wrote  Dr.  John  S. 
Newberry  on  this  occasion,  "  the  feeling  of  all  the 
scientific  men  of  the  country  when  I  say  that  it 
would  be  a  great  sacrifice  of  the  general  interests 
of  Science  and  of  the  dignity  of  the  great  State  of 
New  York  if  your  work,  so  important  to  the  sci- 
entific reputation  of  the  country  and  our  State, 
should  be  even  interrupted.  You  can  perhaps  afford 
to  stop  and  be  content  with  the  splendid  monument 
which  your  work  already  done  would  form,  for  it 
would  give  you  undying  fame,  but  we,  the  geologists 
of  the  country  and  the  State  of  New  York  can  not 
afford  to  have  you  stop  for  an  instant,  least  of  all 
leave  your  unpublished  facts  and  material  to  the 
chances  of  an  uncertain  future  and  to  the  hazard 
of  life,  death  and  political  changes." 


468  JAMES  HALL 

Soon  after  Hall's  first  visit  to  England,  Sir  An- 
drew C.  Ramsay,  who  had  just  become  Director- 
general  of  the  Geological  Survey  of  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland,  writes  as  follows : 

28  Jermyn  St.,  LONDON, 
i6th  June,  1873. 

"  I  have  no  special  news  for  you.  I  am  trying  to  get 
the  Geological  Survey  Offices  and  the  Museum  in  general 
much  enlarged.  We  are  dreadfully  in  want  of  space  for 
fossils,  minerals  and  rocks,  but  I  very  much  fear  there 
is  not  much  chance  of  the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer 
granting  the  necessary  funds,  even  if  I  persuade  the 
Department  under  which  we  serve  to  make  the  proper 
representation. 

Among  other  things  I  though  I  might  have  a  little  more 
leisure  after  succeeding  Sir  Roderick  in  the  office  of 
Director-General,  but  such  is  not  the  case.  I  hoped  to 
get  rid  of  my  Professorship,  and  though  I  think  they  are 
willing  to  clear  me  of  that  duty  they  seem  in  no  hurry 
to  do  so,  and  I  can  not  afford  to  part  with  the  emoluments 
thereunto  attached,  for  when  Sir  Roderick  died,  they 
abolished  the  Office  of  Director  of  the  School  of  Mines, 
so  that  my  salary  is  £300  a  year  less  than  his  was,  and 
therefore  I  am  obliged  to  stick  to  the  Chair. 

Next  Wednesday  is  the  last  sessional  meeting  of  the 
Geological  Society,  to  be  celebrated  by  an  onslaught  by 
the  President  (the  Duke  of  Argyll)  on  my  theory  of  the 
Glacial  Origin  of  Certain  Rock-bound  Lake-basins.  It 
does  not  much  trouble  my  mind,  for  if  it  amuses  him  I 
think  it  does  me  no  harm. 

I  hope  to  get  to  Germany  before  the  summer  is  over 
to  attempt  to  explain  the  physical  origin  of  a  large  part 


H.  ALLEYNE  NICHOLSON          469 

of  the  Valley  of  the  Rhine.  If  my  suspicions  are  well 
founded  I  do  not  know  into  what  villainous  heresies  the 
subject  may  lead  me. 

Give  the  united  kind  regards  of  my  wife  and  self  to 
Mrs.  Hall  and  the  family  in  general.  All  my  family  go 
next  week  to  Beaumaris  in  Anglesey  to  spend  most  of 
the  summer.  We  have  a  house  there  which  is  very  con- 
venient. I  wish  that  you  could  be  of  the  party,  for  then 
I  would  take  you  over  the  Silurian  rocks  of  North  Wales 
in  general. 

Believe  me 

Yours  very  sincerely 

AND.  C.  RAMSAY  " 

Henry  Alleyne  Nicholson  is  a  name  well  known 
to  palaeontologists.  Nicholson  came  to  this  country 
from  England  apparently  to  seek  out  his  fortune 
in  geology.  He  seems  to  have  arrived  in  1871,  and 
for  a  while  made  his  headquarters  at  the  home  of 
the  Reverend  Doctor  Buddington  of  Brooklyn.  He 
does  not  hesitate  to  come  at  once  to  Albany  and  tell 
Hall,  with  true  British  confidence,  that  he  under- 
stands it  is  proposed  to  appoint  a  State  Geologist  in 
Virginia  and  "  if  this  be  so  I  shall  apply  for  the 
appointment."  Nicholson  soon  learns  more  of  the 
American  mode  and  presently  takes  a  professorship 
of  Natural  History  and  Botany  at  the  new  univer- 
sity of  Toronto.  While  there  he  was  busied  with 
some  studies  of  the  Graptolites  and  prepared  a 
well-known  but  very  brief  official  report  on  the  De- 
vonian of  the  Province  of  Ontario  which,  to  use  his 


470  JAMES  HALL 

own  expression,  is  "  rather  shabbily  got  up  as  our 
legislators  do  not  much  care  about  spending  money 
on  '  clams  and  salamanders.'  "  Here,  too,  he  pre- 
pared a  Text-book  of  Palaeontology  which  was  very 
helpful  in  its  day  and  the  first  book  of  its  kind  on 
the  continent.  By  1874  Nicholson  had  tired  of  the 
western  world  and  asked  Hall  for  a  letter  of  recom- 
mendation to  accompany  his  application  for  a  col- 
legiate position  at  home.  Soon  thereafter  he 
became  attached  to  the  College  of  Physical  Science 
at  Newcastle-on-Tyne  and  joined  with  a  number  of 
active  English  geologists ;  Bonney,  A.  Geikie,  Car- 
ruthers,  Holl,  T.  R.  Jones,  Jukes-Browne,  Rudler, 
Topley,  Henry  Woodward  and  H.  B.  Woodward, 
in  the  editorship  of  the  "  Geological  Record." 

The  correspondence  of  these  years  shows  other 
items  which  are  pleasant  and  instructive  to  recall. 

His  friend  G.  C.  Swallow  reveals  one  of  Hall's 
abandoned  ambitions.  Writing  from  Columbia, 
Mo.  in  1875  he  says: 

"  I  hope  you  will  be  able  to  carry  your  work  through 
the  Carboniferous  and  Permian  Systems,  for  we  have  no 
one  who  will  be  able  to  handle  the  entire  subject.  You 
alone  are  in  a  position  to  work  up  these  systems  impar- 
tially and  correctly." 

Frederick  Starr  of  Auburn,  N.  Y.,  a  lively  col- 
lector of  fossils,  18  years  old,  writes  a  letter  of  ex- 
cited enthusiasm  ( 1877),  adding  "  I  hope  that  after 
reading  this  letter  you  will  not  say  '  I  wish  those 


SIR  EDMUND  WALKER  471 

everlasting  boys  were  not  so  troublesome.'  "  Starr 
was  busy  grinding  out  the  spirals  in  the  fossil 
brachiopods  and  kept  Hall's  interest  so  keen  that  for 
two  or  three  years  he  tried  to  make  a  place  for  him 
at  Albany,  but  the  means  were  lacking  and  the 
budding  palaeontologist  was  left  to  evolve  into  the 
distinguished  archeologist  of  Chicago  University. 

Doctor  Charles  Wachsmuth  of  Burlington,  Iowa, 
who,  with  his  colleague,  Frank  Springer,  attained 
topmost  eminence  for  his  knowledge  of  the  Crin- 
oidea,  writes  (1877) :  "  It  was  a  bad  move  of  our 
Iowa  legislature  that  the  Survey  under  your  direc- 
tion was  ever  discontinued." —  a  pleasant  reflection 
from  a  gloomy  page  but  a  sentiment  which  paid  no 
outstanding  claims. 

A  letter  of  1879  affords  a  glimpse  of  the  lively 
zeal  of  the  banker-palaeontologist,  B.  E.  (Sir  Ed- 
mund) Walker,  then  of  London,  Ontario :  "  When 
you  were  in  Hamilton  last  summer,  Captain  Prout 
had  occasion,  owing  to  my  father's  absence  from 
home,  to  introduce  me  to  you,  you  having  called  to 
see  some  specimens  in  father's  cabinet.  I  am  my- 
self constantly  at  work  during  my  spare  hours  from 
business  either  collecting  or  working  at  the  classi- 
fication of  my  specimens." 

And  speaking  of  Toronto,  there  was  another  de- 
votee of  the  science  in  the  little  village  of  Elora  not 
far  away,  where  the  rocks  of  the  Guelph  formation 
brought  forth  many  peculiar  fossils.  David  Boyle, 


472  JAMES  HALL 

subsequently  knighted  for  his  eminent  public  service 
and  his  contributions  to  ethnology,  begins  a  corres- 
pondence of  many  years  with  a  letter  dated  1876, 
written  on  behalf  of  the  public  museum  of  Elora,  of 
which  he  says :  "  It  is,  outside  of  Toronto,  the  only 
public  Natural  History  Museum  in  the  Province 
and  may  almost  be  said  to  be  without  one  cent  of 
endowment  or  grant  except  what  I  raise  by  lectures, 
etc."  Here  is  a  characteristic  passage :  Ferdinand 
Roemer,  his  friend  of  1845,  now  professor  at  Bres- 
lau,  writes  in  1874:  "  If  you  will  send  me  that  box 
with  Helderberg  fossils  collected  by  myself  in  1845, 
it  will  be  highly  gratifying  to  me."  Again  in  1876: 
"  I  left  a  box  with  Helderberg  fossils  in  1845  with 
you  at  Albany.  *  *  take  the  trouble  to  send 
them  to  my  address."  In  1878  Hall  was  planning  to 
visit  Europe,  hence :  "  I  just  received  your  kind 
letter  in  which  you  promise  to  send  the  fossils  which 
I  left  32  years  ago  with  you." 

The  Federal  Surveys. 

During  these  years,  in  the  geological  exploration 
of  the  public  domain  the  Federal  Government  was 
a  divided  house.  Lieutenant  Wheeler  was  conduct- 
ing a  survey  of  the  country  west  of  the  100th  Merid- 
ian ;  Clarence  King  directed  the  Survey  of  the  40th 
Parallel ;  Ferdinand  V.  Hayden,  the  U.  S.  Geological 
(later  the  Geological  and  Geographical,  1877)  Sur- 
vey of  the  Territories  (1874). 


CHARLES  D.  WALCOTT  473 

King's  studies  of  the  western  mountain  ranges 
aroused  his  interest  in  Hall's  theory  of  mountain 
making,  enunciated  20  years  before,  and  we  have 
referred  to  the  correspondence  on  this  subject  be- 
tween these  two  men. 

In  1879  the  influence  of  Clarence  King's  winning 
character  was  bringing  about  a  consolidation  of 
these  various  official  surveys  and  we  find  Hall 
urging  upon  President  Hayes,  King's  appointment 
to  the  directorship,  and  it  is  of  interest  to  insert 
here  a  letter  of  this  time  from  Hall  to  King : 

February   15,   1879. 

"Anticipating  the  change  that  I  hope  may  take  place  in 
the  organization  of  the  Geological  Surveys  of  the  Terri- 
tories, I  beg  leave  to  recommend  Mr.  Charles  D.  Walcott 
for  a  position  as  assistant  on  your  staff.  Mr.  Walcott 
has  been  with  me  for  two  years  past,  his  duties  having 
been  chiefly  in  the  field  where  he  has  done  very  excellent 
work  in  the  collection  of  fossils  and  their  preparation  for 
the  collections  of  the  State  Museum  and  for  use  in  the 
palaeontology  of  the  State.  His  palaeontological  studies 
up  to  the  present  time  have  been  chiefly  among  the  trilo- 
bites  of  his  own  collections  where  he  has  done  excellent 
work.  He  is  now  engaged  upon  some  operations  of  wider 
character  and  has  in  hand  already  for  publication  an  inter- 
esting paper  upon  the  Utica  slate,  its  fauna,  its  geological 
relations,  geographical  range,  etc. 

In  all  the  work  in  which  he  has  been  engaged  I  have 
had  every  reason  to  be  satisfied. 

I  am 

Very  truly  yours  " 


474  JAMES  HALL 

As  a  result  of  this  letter  Mr.  Walcott  soon  left 
Albany  to  begin  his  eminent  career  at  Washington, 
and  before  long  he  was  encamped  for  the  winter 
at  the  bottom  of  the  Grand  Canyon  of  the  Colorado 
as  aide  to  Major  John  W.  Powell. 

Volume  of  "Illustrations"  and  Second  Trip   to 

Europe. 

Premonitory  grumblings  at  Albany  over  delays  in 
the  publication  were  now  menacing.  The  last  vol- 
ume had  come  out  in  1867  and  the  years  were  run- 
ning on,  with  annual  appropriations  but  with  no 
visible  results.  Hall  had  started  so  many  lines  of 
investigation  and  his  work  had  grown  so  far  beyond 
his  expectation  —  though  it  always  did  that  —  he 
found  himself  embarrassed  in  justifying  his  delays. 
In  the  eleventh  year  from  the  time  of  his  Volume  IV 
the  flood  of  new  volumes  started,  one  following 
quick  upon  the  heels  of  another,  but  in  trying  to  tide 
over  this  long  interval  he  felt  compelled  to  present 
some  sort  of  showing.  So  out  of  his  own  pocket- 
book  he  issued  a  volume  of  plates  of  his  drawings 
reproduced  by  the  new  "Albertype "  process 
devised  by  Albert  Bierstadt,  entitled  it  "  Illustra- 
tions of  Devonian  Fossils,"  bound  up  130  copies  and 
distributed  them  among  the  legislators  and  a  few 
scientific  friends.  It  was  a  novel  and  valuable  pro- 
duction; it  was  the  first  time  this  gelatine-process 
had  been  applied  to  such  illustrative  purposes,  and 


THE  TREE  OF  THE  AVENUE       475 

among  these  plates,  though  most  have  been  repro- 
duced in  subsequent  volumes  of  the  regular  series 
of  the  "  Palaeontology,"  there  still  remain  some 
as  standards  of  reference  not  yet  elsewhere  repro- 
duced. Of  this  supernumerary  volume  Desor 
wrote : 

NEUCHATEL,  i3th  March,  1878. 

MY  DEAR  FRIEND  HALL: 

I  am  very  glad  and  thankful  that  you  have  given  me 
such  a  nice  opportunity  for  sending  you  an  assurance  of 
life  and  an  expression  of  my  gratitude  for  your  splendid 
volume  of  Illustrations  of  Devonian  Fossils.  It  is  splendid 
indeed,  not  merely  in  its  execution  but  also  in  its  arrange- 
ment and  by  the  grand  impression  which  it  makes  as  to 
the  nature  of  this  extraordinary  fauna.  Parliamentary 
duties  have  prevented  me  from  acknowledging  sooner  the 
receipt  of  the  fine  volume.  I  intend  to  present  it  tomorrow 
to  our  Natur.  Society. 

Surely  you  could  not  have  given  me  a  better  proof  of 
the  entire  and  complete  restoration  of  your  health.  I 
may  imagine  seeing  friend  Hall  again  active  and  full  of 
initiative  among  his  treasures,  a  very  different  man  indeed 
of  what  he  was  when  he  came  over  to  Combe- Varin.  The 
tree  of  the  avenue  which  is  dedicated  to  you,  although  not 
young,  seemed  to  warrant  by  its  vigor  and  healthy  look 
that  its  godfather  should  recover  the  same  health  and  so 
it  was,  Heaven  be  blessed. 

As  to  the  technical  execution  of  the  plates.  I  confess 
that  I  am  only  able  to  admire  it  without  understanding 
it.  Is  the  printing  made  on  stone  or  on  copper  or  on  steel  ? 
The  fact  is  that  it  is  wonderful  and  that  it  would  admir- 
ably apply  to  Echinoderma  and  Bryozoarians  and  likewise 


476  JAMES  HALL 

to  fossil  plants.  Your  plates  are  unquestionably  superior 
to  the  heliotypes  in  Al.  Agassiz's  work,  although  the  latter 
are  better  than  those  of  Al.  Agassiz's  great  work  on 
Echini. 

Could  you  give  me  an  approximation  of  the  costs  of  a 
plate  like  that  of  your  corals?  Are  they  more  or  less 
costly  than  mere  lithographs? 

I  have  been  much  engaged  for  the  last  year  in  the  vari- 
ous methods  proposed  against  the  Phylloxera.  We  have 
some  hope  that  we  may  succeed  in  getting  rid  of  this 
horrible  beast  by  means  of  the  sulphur-acid  (acide  sul- 
phureuse)  when  applied  in  the  liquid  form. 

Scientifically  I  am  prosecuting  my  inquiries  about  the 
relation  of  the  pliocene  with  the  glacial  deposit.  I  hear 
with  great  pleasure  that  your  son  takes  great  interest  in 
this  question,  and  that  he  has  obtained  excellent  results. 
The  United  States  are  a  glorious  field  for  this  problem. 
I  hope  to  hear  again  some  day  from  you  and  your  fine 
labors. 

Believe  me  ever 

Yours 

E.  DESOR 

Hall's  apprehension  over  the  situation  which 
made  this  publication  of  the  "  Illustrations  "  advis- 
able, is  reflected  in  the  following  letter  from 
Joachim  Barrande: 

PRAGUE,  June  19,  1878. 

*  *  *  "I  can  easily  understand  the  agitation  in 
which  you  have  been  for  many  months  until  the  publi- 
cation of  your  Palaeontology  of  N.  Y.  was  assured.  I 
beg  to  assure  you  that  all  the  geologists  and  palaeontolo- 
gists of  Europe  attach  great  importance  to  the  continuation 


BARRANDE'S  APPRECIA  TION       477 

of  this  work  which,  in  their  eyes  honors  the  legislature  of 
the  State  of  New  York.  That  State  is  in  fact  the  first 
which  has  recognized  the  importance  of  the  exploration 
of  its  rocks  and  it  has  long  sustained  the  enterprise  so 
useful  to  science  in  general.  At  this  moment,  when  you 
have  almost  reached  the  end  of  these  long  and  laborious 
investigations,  no  one  can  imagine  that  an  old  servitor  of 
the  State  will  have  his  publications  arrested.  Happily 
good  sense  and  sentiments  of  National  honor  prevail 
among  your  legislators.  I  felicitate  the  State  of  New  York 
which  thus  conserves  the  high  consideration  which  that 
body  enjoys  among  the  savants  of  our  continent. 

I  express  to  you  also  my  personal  felicitations  with  the 
hope  that  you  will  be  able  to  peacefully  conclude  your 
work  and  enjoy  the  satisfaction  which  you  have  well  mer- 
ited by  application  so  sustained  through  long  years.  My 
views  are  shared  by  all  my  friends." 

And  of  like  import  is  this  letter  of  a  few  months 
earlier  with  its  splendid  tribute : 

1878  Jan.  25 

"  I  thank  you  for  your  magnificent  volume  of  130  pho- 
tographic plates  which  I  received  from  you  last  autumn. 
Your  Devonian  fossils  are  very  beautiful  and  I  greatly 
regret  having  received  the  volume  too  late  for  mention  in 
my  '  Etudes  generates '  of  the  Cephalopods.'  " 

The  study  of  the  Brachiopods  has  often  compelled  me  to 
resort  to  your  magnificent  volume  IV  published  in  1867. 
Each  time  I  sincerely  admire  the  beauty  of  your  fossils, 
the  perfect  figures  by  Mr.  Whitfield  and  the  clear  and 
methodical  text  of  my  master  Prof.  J.  Hall." 


THE  PERIOD  OF  VOLUME  V  — 1867-1878  —  Continued 

3 

Second  trip  to  Europe  —  O.  Novak — Organization  of  the 
International  Geological  Congress  —  Buffalo  Inter- 
national Committee  of  1876 — Hall  its  president,  and 
organizing  president  of  the  first  Congress,  at  Paris, 
1878-7- His  address  —  Other  incidents  of  his  visit  — 
Ramsay,  Desor  —  Barrois  of  Lille  returns  with  him  — 
Barrois's  geological  cruise  in  America  —  Death  of 
Joseph  Henry. 

DURING  the  period  of  the  Centennial  Exposi- 
tion of  1876  which  brought  a  great  many 
European  savants  to  America,  there  was  a 
conference  in  Buffalo  of  the  geologists  of  the 
American  Association  for  the  Advancement  of 
Science,  who  were  desirous  of  forming  an  organiza- 
tion which  would  help  to  illuminate  the  puzzling 
matter  of  the  correlation  of  geological  formations 
over  the  world  and  secure  some  sort  of  uniformity 
in  interpretation  and  map  construction.  Thereupon 
was  organized  a  sort  of  preliminary  committee  or 
Committee  of  an  International  Geological  Congress, 
an  organization  which  was  authorized  to  arrange 
for  a  world-wide  canvass  of  geologists  with  refer- 
ence to  the  proposal  and  to  fix  date  and  place  for  a 
meeting.  Mr  Hall  was  the  President  of  this  Com- 
mittee and  its  other  American  members  were  Hunt, 
W.  B.  Rogers,  Dawson,  Newberry,  Lesley,  C.  H. 
Hitchcock  and  Pumpelly.  Huxley,  who  was  at 

[478] 


OTTOMAR    NOVAK  479 

the  Association  meeting,  was  the  British  member ; 
Torrell  of  Sweden  and  Baumhauer  of  Holland,  the 
other  European  members.  The  meetings  were  set 
down  for  August,  1878  at  Paris,  and  the  time  had 
now  arrived.  As  this  important  event,  in  which  Mr. 
Hall  had  the  deepest  concern,  drew  near,  he  found 
himself  so  deeply  involved  in  his  labors  at  home  that 
he  felt  he  could  not  go  so  far  and  leave  his  scientific 
machine,  for  Whitfield  had  left  him,  Walcott  was 
about  to  go  and  Beecher,  though  on  the  way,  had 
not  yet  arrived.  He  felt  the  need  of  more  help  and 
he  had  been  asking  Barrande  to  send  him  a  young 
man  to  assist  in  the  work;  request  to  which  he 
received  this  reply: 

"  Directly  on  receiving  your  letter  I  made  search  for 
some  one  able  to  carry  on  the  functions  you  have  indicated 
and  aid  you  in  your  preparatory  labors.  I  have  found  a 
young  man  about  22  years  old,  who  seems  to  me  to  possess 
these  qualifications.  His  name  is  Novak  (Ottomar)  and 
he  has  had  his  scientific  training  at  the  Musee  Boheme 
where  he  has  been  working  for  many  years  as  assistant  to 
Prof.  Anton  Fritsch.  Mr.  Ottomar  Novak,  after  reflec- 
tion, has  told  me  that  he  would  accept  your  propositions 
if  they  will  assure  him  a  respectable  living.  Mr.  Novak  is 
a  young  man,  well  educated,  studious,  and  of  a  very  sweet 
and  peaceable  character." 

Novak  did  not  come,  but  went  off  with  Suess  to 
study  Vesuvius  and  Etna,  and  Hall  started  for  Eu- 
rope, not  waiting  for  the  arrival  in  Albany  of 
Beecher.  His  absence  was  not  long  but  the  trip 


480  JAMES  HALL 

afforded  him  opportunity  to  meet  friends  in  Eng- 
land and  to  enjoy  the  profuse  hospitality  of  the 
French.  More  than  that,  the  occasion  at  Paris  was 
of  the  highest  scientific  moment.  A  large  and 
thoroughly  representative  body  of  geologists  came 
together  from  all  quarters  of  the  world,  except 
Germany.  Mr.  Hall,  as  organizing  president, 
opened  the  way  for  M.  Hebert,  who  was  president 
of  the  sessions.  At  the  opening  meeting  on  August 
29,  Mr.  Hall  presented  his  views  on  the  nomencla- 
ture of  the  Palaeozoic  Rocks  in  a  paper  that  was  at 
once  translated  into  French  by  Barrois  and  has,  I 
think,  never  appeared  in  English.  It  was  a  rather 
important  document  in  a  historical  sense  for  it 
recognized  the  Cambrian  System  of  Sedgwick  as 
including  all  the  divisions  of  the  Palaeozoic  from 
the  base  up  to  the  top  of  the  "  Hudson  River  beds." 
At  the  close  of  his  paper  Mr.  Hall  made  these 
remarks : 

"An  International  Geological  Congress  such  as  is  now 
assembled  here,  has  been  for  a  long  time  the  aspiration 
of  many  individuals  and  the  subject  of  repeated  proposals, 
but  it  has  heretofore  not  been  possible  to  propose  any  satis- 
factory arrangement.  The  letter  of  Professor  Capellini, 
which  is  found  printed  among  the  documents  we  have  had 
before  us,  shows  that  Italy,  the  cradle  of  geology,  had 
thought  also  upon  the  advantages  of  such  an  organization. 
It  was  not  possible,  however,  to  reach  a  solution  of  the 
question  of  the  Congress  by  correspondence  and  it  was 
only  upon  the  occasion  of  the  celebration  of  the  Centenary 
of  the  United  States  in  1876  that  the  hope  of  seeing  such 


FIRST  GEOLOGICAL  CONGRESS    481 

a  Congress  as  this  organized,  took  on  substantial  form. 
This  Centenary,  followed  by  the  meeting  of  the  American 
Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science,  had  this 
result;  that  without  precedent  in  the  history  of  our  coun- 
try there  was  a  gathering  of  scientific  men  of  different 
countries  so  large  as  to  make  possible  close  personal  rela- 
tions and  an  exchange  of  ideas  which  permitted  us  to 
work  out  and  propose  the  plan  of  such  a  Congress  as  this. 
I  have  now  before  me  the  fruit  of  these  efforts  in  this 
great  assembly  of  scientific  men  where  are  found  repre- 
sentatives of  nearly  every  country  of  Europe  and  a  con- 
siderable number  of  geologists  of  merit  from  North 
America.  Permit  me,  gentlemen,  to  express,  in  closing,  the 
view  that  our  work  and  our  reports  will  exercise  an 
important  influence  upon  the  progress  of  the  science 
which  is  so  dear  to  us."  (Vifs  applaudissements). 

In  reply  to  which  Mr.  de  Baumhauer  said : 

"Mr.  President:  In  the  name  of  the  Congress  I  thank 
Mr.  Hall  and  I  heartily  endorse  the  views  which  he  has 
so  well  expressed."  (Nouveaux  applaudissements). 

Among  the  other  American  members  of  this  Con- 
gress were  Thomas  C.  Chamberlin  of  Beloit,  Di- 
rector of  the  Geological  Survey  of  Wisconsin; 
George  H.  Cook  of  New  Jersey;  Henry  Hanks  of 
California;  Edward  Cope  of  the  U.  S.  Geological 
Survey;  E.  B.  Cox  and  J.  P.  Lesley. 

It  is  not,  thus,  to  be  forgotten  that  Mr.  Hall  was 
the  organizing  president  of  the  International  Geo- 
logical Congress  which,  up  to  the  breaking  out  of 

31 


482  JAMES  HALL 

the  Great  War,  had  held  thirteen  important  meet- 
ings in  various  parts  of  the  civilized  world,  its  last 
being  in  Canada  in  1913  —  meetings  of  so  eventful 
a  character  as  to  have  elicited  large  cooperation  and 
support  from  the  receiving  governments. 

The  time  at  Hall's  disposal  was  too  short  for 
much  visiting  with  friends.  There  are  some  echoes 
of  this  trip  that  appear  in  subsequent  letters,  of 
which  those  that  follow  have  contemporary  inter- 
est. While  stopping  with  Dr.  Bigsby  at  Portman 
Square,  his  old  friend  Sir  Andrew  Ramsay,  Di- 
rector of  the  Geological  Survey,  writes  in  his  grow- 
ing blindness  from  his  home  in  Wales : 

7  Victoria  Terrace 
Beaumaris,  Anglesey,  20  Sept.,  1878. 
My  dear  Prof.  Hall; 

I  received  your  note  of  i8th  this  morning  and  am 
troubled  at  not  having  a  chance  of  seeing  you,  you  fly 
about  so  rapidly.  If  they  had  telegraphed  my  address  to 
you  to  Liverpool,  you  could  easily  have  come  round  this 
way  en  route  to  London.  We  have  a  house  here  where 
my  wife  and  children  come  in  summer,  and  where  this 
year  I  have  been  confined  ever  since  the  end  of  July. 
Something  went  wrong  with  one  of  my  eyes  and  I  was 
obliged  to  go  to  Liverpool  for  an  operation  on  it,  and  my 
whole  health  got  deranged  thereby.  I  am  not  now  fit  for 
work  and  must  neither  read  nor  write,  but  I  am  mending 
slowly. 

My  wife  and  I  have  promised  to  go  on  Monday  for  a 
week  to  Port  Madoc  to  visit  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Homfrey 


RAMSAY  AND  DESOR  483 

(Ammonites  Homfreyi1)  and  if  you  could  only  come  there 
for  a  day  or  two  under  his  guidance  you  would  see  the 
Lingula  flags  and  Tremadoc  slates  to  perfection.  If  prac- 
ticable for  you,  Port  Madoc  is  easily  accessible  from  Lon- 
don by  way  of  Chester  and  Carnarvon,  and  there  is  a 
good  hotel  (Sportsman)  where  you  could  sleep  and  Hom- 
frey  would  give  you  a  good  dinner.  Letters  will  reach 
me  here  on  Sunday  and  Monday  morning.  After  that  care 
of  David  Homfrey,  Esq.,  Port  Madoc. 

I  shall  be  very  glad  of  any  mission  that  would  take  me 
to  America  again.  It  is  two  years  since  I  have  been  out 
of  Britain,  my  last  journey  being  to  Gibraltar  on  Water 
Supply  business  for  the  Colonial  Office. 

I  wish  we  had  you  here  where  from  our  windows  you 
would  see  such  a  view  of  the  Carnarvonshire  mountains  a 
few  miles  off.  My  wife  would  send  her  kindest  regards  to 
you  were  she  at  home.  Yours  most  sincerely, 

A.  C.  RAMSAY 

Desor,  whom  Hall  had  hoped  to  visit  at  his  home 
in  Jura,  sends  the  following : 

Nice  (Rue  Gioffredo  56)  25th  November,  1878. 
My  dear  friend  Hall ; 

Do  not  be  angry  that  I  have  delayed  so  long  to  answer 
your  kind  letters  of  the  10  and  226.  September  which  have 
been  both  duly  received.  The  fact  is  that  until  to  the  last 
moment  I  entertained  some  hope  to  go  to  Paris  and  to 
see  some  of  the  friends  and  colleagues  you  have  met  there 
and  hear  their  impression  about  the  Congress.  Unfortu- 
nately my  esculaps  did  not  allow  it,  for  fear  that  I  might 

1 A  father  may  be  distinguished  in  his  son,  but  when  before  was  a 
man  distinguished  by  the  fossil  named  after  him! 


484  JAMES  HALL 

get  too  tired.  It  was  one  of  the  greatest  privations  for 
me  to  submit,  for  I  would  have  met  many  an  old  friend 
and  acquaintance  whom  I  will  probably  never  see  again.  I 
read  and  followed  with  great  care  your  discussion  at  the 
geological  Congress,  and  have  also  learned  with  great  sat- 
isfaction that  you  have  met  there  with  the  due  regard 
which  you  deserve  on  account  of  your  hard  work  and  suc- 
cessful investigations.  I  consider  also  that  as  far  as  an 
attempt  to  coordinate  the  various  formations  in  both  con- 
tinents was  aimed  at,  your  cooperation  was  indispensable. 
It  was  indeed  indicated  that  such  an  attempt  should  begin 
with  the  palaeozoic  formations  because  they  are  on  the 
whole  more  homogeneous  the  world  over  than  the  more 
recent  ones.  Now  it  is  certain  that  nobody  has  investigated 
a  greater  amount  of  palaeozoic  faunas  as  you,  and  there- 
fore nobody  can  pretend  to  have  a  better  comprehension 
of  the  leading  features  of  any  period  of  this  great  era. 
Bye  and  bye  when  we  have  come  to  a  result  concerning 
the  parallelism  of  the  palaeozoic  groups,  it  will  perhaps 
be  less  easy  to  try  the  same  for  the  mesozoic  series.  It 
may  be  however  that  something  of  the  kind  will  be  pro- 
posed at  the  Congress  of  Bologna,  although  it  will  be 
rather  a  hard  task  to  coordinate  the  Trias  of  the  Alps  with 
its  equivalent  of  the  Anglo-french  bassin. 

I  hope  you  will  have  reached  your  home  in  a  satis- 
factory state  of  health  and  have  resumed  your  work  with 
renewed  energy,  although  I  wish  and  hope  that  you  will 
take  care  not  to  overwork  yourself  again.  There  is  a 
limit  to  our  capacity,  and  it  is  time  for  the  sake  of  science 
and  for  your  own  welfare  that  you  should  limit  yourself 
in  your  task.  Remember  the  italian  axiom  "  qui  ve  sano 
va  contano." 

As  to  myself,  you  will  see  from  the  heading  of  this 
letter  that  I  have  succeeded  at  last  in  leasing  my  Neu- 


DESOR'S  LETTER  485 

chatel  home  in  order  to  get  out  of  the  way  of  our  Swiss 
fogs  and  easterly  winds.  I  have  settled  here  for  the  win- 
ter on  this  beautiful  shore  of  Nice  (Nizza),  where  I  have 
met  again  a  splendid  sunshine.  It  was  indeed  so  warm 
today,  that  we  had  to  walk  quite  slowly  in  order  not  to 
get  into  perspiration.  I  have  hired  an  apartment  for  the 
season  and  old  Mary  is  preparing  my  meals,  which  is  by 
far  preferable  to  the  hotel-fare.  There  is  also  quite  an 
interesting  field  for  geological  inquiries.  There  is  yet  much 
to  do  and  it  is  but  a  very  short  time  since  a  geological  sur- 
vey of  the  department  has  been  decided.  I  will  try  to 
look  first  at  the  erratic  and  diluvial  phenomena,  raised 
beaches  and  the  distribution  of  erratic  boulders,  of  which 
very  little  is  known  thus  far.  The  prehistoric  phenomena 
are  more  striking  and  there  are  as  I  am  told  in  the  neigh- 
borhood many  caverns  which  contain  palaeolithic  and  neo- 
lithic remains  similar  to  those  of  the  caverns  of  Mentone, 
where  the  prehistoric  human  skeleton  of  the  Paris  collec- 
tion has  been  detected  by  M.  Riviere.  But  the  most  fasci- 
nating features  are  that  of  the  landscape.  I  imagine  Mrs. 
Hall  would  be  in  the  greatest  admiration  in  looking  at 
these  gardens  covered  with  roses  and  various  other  flowers 
in  full  blossom,  not  to  speak  of  the  palms  and  the  oranges 
and  lemons  which  are  just  now  ripening.  *  * 

Yours  truly 

E.  DESOR 

The  Count  de  Verneuil,  now  nearly  70,  writes  to 
tell  his  experience  in  Spain  after  leaving  Hall  in 
Paris  and  ventures  to  remind  Hall  that  the  $200 
borrowed  of  him  in  1845  has  not  yet  been  repaid! 
The  letter  is  genial  and  kindly  and  the  writer  adds 
that  he  has  discovered  the  Potsdam  Sandstone  in 


486  JAMES  HALL 

France  with  just  such  fossils  as  occur  in  it  in  Wis- 
consin. 

Still  keenly  on  the  lookout  for  a  lieutenant  and 
having  failed  in  the  effort  to  bring  the  promising 
Czech  Novak 2  into  his  labors,  Professor  Hall  met 
at  Paris  a  young  doctor  of  science,  then  lecturing  on 
geology  at  the  University  of  Lille,  Charles  Barrois, 
to  whose  aspirations  and  from  whose  devotions  his 
heart  warmed.  The  casual  acquaintance  led  to  an 
invitation  to  Barrois's  home  where  the  gracious  re- 
ception and  the  sympathy  of  like  interests  led  Hall 
to  endeavor  to  persuade  the  young  Frenchman  to 
join  his  corps  in  Albany.  In  this  he  was  not  suc- 
cessful, but  he  did  succeed  in  persuading  Barrois 
to  accompany  him  to  America  under  the  promise  of 
giving  him,  through  personal  introductions,  the  op- 
portunity of  traversing  the  regions  of  greatest  in- 
terest to  a  geologist!  So  in  September  (1878)  they 
two  sailed  for  America,  Barrois  meeting  Hall  at 
Liverpool.  Arriving  at  Albany,  he  is  started  on  his 
travels  with  a  bundle  of  helpful  letters  to  geologists 
and  others  north,  south,  east  and  west.  To  classic 
Schoharie  and  the  Helderbergs,  to  Lake  Champlain 
and  into  Canada,  to  Amherst  to  see  the  great  Hitch- 
cock collection  of  Triassic  foot  prints,  then  south  to 
seek  Cook  in  New  Jersey,  Lesley  in  Philadelphia ;  to 
Harrisburg,  Oil  City,  localities  in  Ohio,  seeing 

'Novak  did  some  very  useful  work  in  palaeontology  and  gave 
promise  of  greater  things,  but  died  early. 


CHARLES  BARROIS  487 

everyone  who  had  something  geological  to  show. 
From  Chicago  Barrois  writes :  "  Your  name  is 
such  a  recommendation  that  not  only  all  houses  are 
open  to  me  but  I  am  welcome  everywhere."  Through 
Minnesota,  Wisconsin  and  Iowa  where  at  Burling- 
ton, Doctor  Wachsmuth  writes :  "  We  visited 
localities  with  2  feet  of  snow  on  the  ground  and  at 
Davenport  the  thermometer  stood  at  25  °F."  By 
Christmas  the  young  doctor  is  at  St.  Louis  where 
he  declares  he  has  learned  there  are  only  two 
cheap  things  in  America,  "turkeys  and  the  Mis- 
souri geological  reports."  Coming  by  the  Southern 
States  he  strikes  Richmond  "  the  very  day,"  writes 
Kerr,  "  the  legislature  passed  a  bill  abolishing  the 
Geological  Survey."  3 

By  Washington  and  New  Haven  back  to  Albany 
to  say  good-by  to  Hall,  Doctor  Barrois  sails  for 
home  in  February,  laden  with  the  spoils  of  his 
cruise.  Amiable  and  zealous,  Barrios  made  and  left 
many  friends,  but  to  Hall  he  had  become  and 
remained,  as  later  years  abundantly  proved,  almost 
in  loco  filii. 

Joseph  Henry. 

In  1878  occurred  the  death  of  Joseph  Henry,  dis- 
coverer of  long  distance  electrical  transmission  and 

*  W.  C.  Kerr,  who  had  been  serving  as  State  Geologist  of  Virginia, 
was  one  of  Louis  Agassiz's  pupils  and  had  acquired  his  interest  in 
geology  "by  making  a  tour  of  your  State  with  Colonel  Jewett." 


488  JAMES  HALL 

the  great  first  secretary  of  the  Smithsonian  Institu- 
tion. Professor  Henry  had  been  Hall's  friend  from 
the  start.  To  his  wise  counsel  and  his  sympathy  he 
was  often  bound.  This  acquaintance  dated  back  to 
the  Albany  days  while  Henry  still  retained  the  im- 
pressions of  his  geological  experiences  with  Amos 
Eaton.  We  have  quoted  an  historic  letter,  asked 
for  by  Professor  Henry  when  in  the  midst  of  his 
troubles  with  S.  F.  D.  Morse,  and  may  well  give 
here  Hall's  final  outpouring  of  tribute  to  the  long 
friendship,  in  a  letter  to  Mrs  Henry. 

"  I  have  hoped  to  be  able  to  write  you  as  I  would  wish 
to  write,  to  express  my  sympathy  and  condolence  with 
yourself  and  family  upon  your  great  affliction  in  the  death 
of  a  kind  and  noble  husband  and  father.  I  can  say  noth- 
ing to  assuage  the  grief  or  mitigate  the  sorrow  for  the  loss 
you  have  sustained,  but  I  may  have  the  melancholy  satis- 
faction of  expressing  to  you  my  great  appreciation,  my 
love,  esteem  and  reverence  for  the  man  whom  I  have 
known  for  so  many  years,  a  man  who  while  living  deserved 
and  received  the  confidence  and  homage  of  every  man  of 
science  of  his  country  and  the  world.  I  had  known  Pro- 
fessor Henry  from  the  time  I  was  a  student  in  Troy  more 
than  forty-six  years  ago.  He  was  the  realization  of  my 
ideal  of  a  true  scientific  man;  honest,  earnest  and  patient 
in  all  things  and  with  all  men  except  with  pretenders  to 
science.  He  won  the  esteem  and  confidence  of  all  who 
approached  him.  In  all  the  little  controversies  among  his 
associates  in  science  he  had  maintained  such  an  attitude 
as  became  a  man  of  his  exalted  position  and  I  do  not  know 
the  man  who  bore  him  ill  will.  During  a  long  life  he  had 


DEATH  OF  HENRY  489 

kept  aloof  from  all  those  influences  which  seem  to  weaken 
or  destroy  the  independence  of  so  many  men  of  science. 
This,  together  with  his  simple  and  unostentatious  life,  his 
quiet  and  unpretending  manner  while  standing  confessedly 
at  the  head  of  all  the  scientific  men  of  his  country,  has 
presented  a  grand  example  to  the  younger  men  while  it 
has  secured  for  him  their  love,  esteem  and  veneration.  I 
believe  there  has  been  no  man  of  the  generation  in  which 
he  lived  who  has  so  endeared  himself  and  his  memory  to 
men  of  all  professions  and  departments  of  scientific 
inquiry.  For  almost  half  a  century  the  name  of  Professor 
Henry  had  been  recognized  as  among  the  foremost  in 
scientific  investigation  and  he  has  been  known  wherever 
civilization  has  extended ;  his  name  is  inseparably  con- 
nected with  one  of  the  greatest  discoveries  of  modern  sci- 
ence and  its  application  to  the  requirements  of  civilized 
life.  The  "  eternal  fame"  predicted  in  the  letter  of  intro- 
duction which  I  took  to  him  in  1832,  has  been  as  fully 
realized  as  is  possible  in  human  life  and  human  affairs, 
and  his  name  will  be  long  remembered  among  the  bene- 
factors of  his  race.  Yet  all  of  worldly  good  or  worldly 
fame  will  weigh  as  nothing  against  the  ties  of  love  and 
affection  which  have  been  broken.  But  if  ever  friends  and 
relatives  could  find  amelioration  of  their  sorrow  in  the 
recollection  of  a  great  and  good  life  they  have  it  in  the 
life  and  example  of  Joseph  Henry. 

With  most  kind  and  sincere  regards  for  yourself  and 
your  daughters,  I  remain 

Very  truly  your  friend  and  obedient  servant " 

JAMES  HALL 

While    Hall    was    away    Beecher    was    seeing 
through  the  press  the  last  pages  and  plates  of  the 


490  JAMES  HALL 

Palaeontology,  Volume  V.  This  volume  had  been 
planned  on  a  large  scale  and  as  it  was  to  compre- 
hend an  accounting  of  the  rich  molluscan  fauna  of 
the  New  York  Devonian  it  had  to  be  compendious, 
but  it  had  quite  outstripped  the  plans  of  its  pro- 
jector and  had  gradually  taken  on  the  form  of  four 
volumes  instead  of  one,  these  four  volumes  consti- 
tuting parts  1  and  2,  each  in  two  volumes.  It  suited 
the  condition  of  the  work  to  issue  the  second  part 
first  and  thus  in  1879  appeared  The  Gasteropoda, 
Pteropoda  and  Cephalopoda  of  the  Upper  Helder- 
berg,  Hamilton,  Portage  and  Chemung  Groups,  with 
one  volume  of  492  pages  of  descriptive  text  and  a 
second  with  113  lithographic  plates.  The  work  had 
largely  been  done  by  Whitfield,  but  there  are  evi- 
dences throughout  the  later  parts  of  it,  of  Mr. 
Beecher's  fine  analytical  touches.  Mr.  Hall  did  not 
regard  the  gigantic  work  as  satisfactorily  covering 
the  whole  field,  and  so  when  Volume  VII  came  out 
a  supplement  was  added  which  helped  bring  his  ac- 
count of  these  Devonian  Mollusca  up  to  the  measure 
of  his  material.  As  a  further  step  in  "making 
known  "  the  fossils  of  the  New  York  Formations, 
Volume  V  was  a  monumental  contribution.  '  -. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  PERIOD  OF  THE  LATER  PALAEONTOLOGIES 
AND  THE  CLOSING  YEARS,  1879-1898 

The  procession  of  the  Palaeontologies  —  Beecher's  meth- 
ods of  work  —  Troubles  with  the  Regents  —  Removal 
of  the  collections  —  Hall's  personality  at  seventy-five 
—  Geological  Congress  at  Bologna  —  Italian  experi- 
ences —  Death  of  Barrande  —  Theory  of  evolution  — 
John  Collett  —  Democratic  sympathy  for  Hall's 
work  —  Gen.  F.  E.  Spinner's  interest  —  Incautious 
science  —  Honors  and  associates  —  Gaudry  —  Les- 
ley —  Walker  Prize  —  Geological  Map  of  New 
York  —  Geological  Society  of  America  —  Completion 
of  the  "  Palaeontology "  according  to  its  original 
plan  —  Additional  volumes  begun  —  Charles  Schu- 
chert — Studies  of  the  Brachiopods  —  Increasing 
trouble  with  the  Regents  —  Hall  recommissioned  by 
Governor  Flower  —  Independence  from  Regents  — 
The  French  calumny  —  Its  results  —  The  later  geol- 
•  °gy  —  D.  Dana  Luther  —  The  Adirondack  Survey  — 
Edward  Orton  —  Geological  Congress  at  Washing- 
ton—  Tribute  to  Hall  —  Sixtieth  official  anniver- 
sary—  Goes  to  Russia  —  Seventh  Geological  Con- 
gress — Salutations  on  his  return  —  The  Peaceful 
End  —  James  Hall's  influence  on  his  science  —  His 
Honors. 

ELEVEN  years  had  passed  between  the  publica- 
tion of  the  last  two  volumes  of  the  Palaeon- 
tology ;  but  they  had  been  years  of  active  and 
incessant  work  and  so  the  years  immediately  to  f  ol- 

[4913 


492  JAMES  HALL 

low  were  full  of  the  tangible  results  of  this  work. 
Now  the  great  tomes  came  so  fast  they  almost 
fell  upon  each  others  heels.  Volume  V,  The 
Devonian  Lamellibranchiata,  appeared  in  suc- 
cessive parts  in  1884  and  1885;  Volume  VI,  The 
Corals  and  Bryozoa  of  the  Devonian,  in  1887;  Vol- 
ume VII,  on  the  Trilobites  and  other  Crustacea  of 
the  Devonian,  in  1888;  Volume  VIII,  on  the  Genera 
of  the  Palaeozoic  Brachiopoda  followed  in  two 
parts,  the  first  in  1892  and  the  second  in  1894.  Here, 
then,  in  the  years  from  1879  to  1894  appeared  in 
print  2412  quarto  pages  of  text  and  406  lithograph 
plates,  a  scientific  productiveness  which  has  few 
comparisons. 

In  the  first  of  these  books,  that  on  the  bivalve  mol- 
lusks,  Mr.  Beecher  had  the  best  opportunity  during 
his  career  in  Albany,  to  show  the  quality  of  his 
workmanship.  In  any  such  book,  built  up  by  slow 
stages  as  the  material  and  drawings  could  be  pre- 
pared, there  was  inevitably  an  element  of  the  hap- 
hazard; things  were  done  and  illustrations  were 
made  far  in  advance  of  the  summation  of  the  work, 
and  thus  imperfections  and  incongruities  easily 
entered.  The  openings  thus  left  in  this  work  were 
Beecher's  opportunity  and  where  he  found  a  free 
hand  his  clever  perceptions  and  keen  analytical  abil- 
ity left  a  new  sort  of  an  impress  on  the  work.  This 
was  especially  seen  in  one  vast  group  of  aviculoid 


CHARLES  E.  BEECHER  493 

bivalves  from  the  Upper  Devonian,  the- Pterineas 
and  Ptychopterias  which  abound  in  such  profusion 
and  variety  that  it  seemed  almost  hopeless  to  make 
recognizable  divisions  among  them.  Spread  out  all 
together  on  table  tops,  that  is  on  one  level,  they 
made  a  bewildering  array  which  took  no  account  of 
the  meaning  of  the  variant  forms  in  their  succession 
in  the  rocks.  Muscle  scars,  hinge-teeth,  ligament 
grooves  and  such  interior  details  were  the  conven- 
tional data  for  classification,  but  Beecher  writes  to 
Hall :  "A  genus  based  wholly  upon  the  characters 
of  the  interior  of  the  valves  is  very  unsatisfactory. 
The  preservation  of  these  is  most  diverse ;  charac- 
ters which  appear  in  specimens  from  one  stratum 
are  obscured  and  replaced  by  others  in  a  succeeding 
layer.  External  form  must  always  carry  the  ex- 
pression and  be  dependent  on  the  structure  of  the 
animal,  and  from  a  careful  study  and  classification 
of  forms  we  may  arrive  at  what  is  equivalent  to  a 
separation  based  upon  a  study  of  structure." —  im- 
portant doctrine  and  practise  to  a  palaeontologist 
for  whom  so  often  external  form  is  the  paramount 
datum.  The  recognition  and  application  of  this 
principal  gave  added  virtue  to  this  great  compen- 
dium of  the  Devonian  bivalves,  but  the  philosophy 
of  the  procedure  escaped  the  appreciation  of  Hall's 
ever  watchful  lakeside  critics  who  accused  him 


494  JAMES  HALL 

again  as  of  yore,  of  over  indulgence  in  "  species- 
making."  1 

Such  fine  touches  imparted  by  Beecher  to  the 
"  Palaeontology  "  were  not  many ;  they  could  hardly 
be  numerous  in  such  descriptive  work.  They  can 
be  seen  again  here  and  there  in  the  ontogenetic 
sketches  given  by  him  to  the  study  of  the  cephala- 
pods,  (Vol.  VII,  Supplement),  a  result  in  part  of  his 
sympathetic  contact  with  Alpheus  Hyatt;  but 
Beecher's  keen  insight  and  his  skillful  manipulat- 
ing hand  were  better  adjusted  to  work  of  another 
sort.  He  soon  tired  of  the  "  Palaeontology  "  and 
its  multitude  of  details  and  busied  himself  with 
microscopic  photography  of  brachiopod  shell  struc- 
ture and  bryozoan  fronds.  The  fine  strain  of  his 
interests  was  well  shown  in  such  a  case  as  this: 
While  the  very  extensive  material  brought  in  from 
the  Silurian  of  Waldron,  Ind.,  was  being  washed 
preparatory  to  assignment  to  its  proper  place  in  the 
collections,2  he  carefully  saved  the  washings  of  the 
slabs  in  order  to  get  the  young  forms  of  the  animals 
of  the  fauna.  Soon  after  my  coming  to  Albany, 

1  The  old  outcry  against  "  species-making  "  came  from  blind  guides 
with  poverty-stricken  minds.  In  palaeontology  the  whole  under- 
standing of  successions  in  fauna  and  flora  and  their  interpretation 
for  palaeogeography  depend  in  very  large  degree  on  definite,  refined 
conceptions  accompanied  by  distinctive  designations  of  the  life 
units  involved. 

*Hall  would  not  permit  any  specimen  to  be  entered  among  the 
collections  until  it  had  been  thoroughly  washed,  a  process  which, 
carelessly  done,  could  do  as  much  harm  as  good. 


DEVELOPMENT  STUDIES          495 

Beecher  showed  me  a  large  number  of  cigar  boxes 
filled  with  these  washings  and  suggested  that  we 
join  hands  in  working  out  the  ontogeny  or  develop- 
ment history  of  the  brachiopods  of  the  fauna  —  a 
field  of  study  that  till  then  was  scarcely  entered. 
We  conspired  together  to  do  this,  neither  realizing 
the  labor  ahead  in  the  selection  of  the  material 
and  the  still  greater  labor  of  convincing  Hall  that 
the  completed  work  should  be  printed  as  one  of 
his  series  of  reports  but  independent  of  his  name. 
So  we  went  at  it,  working  in  our  rooms  by  lamp- 
light night  after  night  for  a  year,  picking  out  these 
minute  things  from  the  debris,  separating  them 
from  all  the  wash  and  wear  of  a  sea  bottom  where 
life  had  rioted ;  and  then  came  the  allotment,  out  of 
an  accumulation  of  many,  many  thousands  of  these 
baby  brachiopods,  of  each  to  its  own  place  among 
the  species  and  in  the  development  series,  the  study 
of  the  progressive  changes,  the  drawing  of  the 
specimens  and  the  summation  of  all  the  results 
which  the  curious  reader  may  see  on  consult- 
ing Memoir  No.  1  of  the  State  Museum;  a  state- 
ment which  shows  the  impressive  success  of  our 
publication  scheme.  Though  Beecher  had  left 
Albany  some  time  before  our  work  was  printed, 
the  doing  of  it  had  undeniably  important  results  for 
both  of  us ;  its  lessons  were  of  an  elemental  nature 
and  guided  him  in  his  later  work  on  brachiopod 
development  and  me  in  my  own  studies  of  brachio- 


496  JAMES  HALL 

pod  structure  which  were  then  well  under  way 
(Palaeontology,  Vol.  VIII,  parts  1  and  2). 

In  1882  there  came  to  Albany,  John  C.  Smock, 
bringing  with  him,  under  commission  from  George 
H.  Cook,  the  State  Geologist  of  New  Jersey,  the 
head  of  a  mighty  fossil  crustacean  (Stylonurus), 
the  greatest  thing  of  its  kind,  which  had  been 
found  by  a  Dutch  farmer  while  building  a  stone 
fence  in  the  town  of  Andes  in  the  Catskill 
Mountains.  As  the  farmer's  son  was  a  stu- 
dent of  Rutgers  College,  New  Jersey  reached  out 
and  seized  this  unique  New  York  fossil,  an  act 
never  to  be  forgiven,  but  palliated  in  a  small  way 
by  permission  to  James  Hall  to  describe  it.  Thus 
it  came  in  custody  of  Professor  Cook's  assistant 
Mr.  Smock.  Three  years  later  Mr.  Smock  came  to 
the  State  Museum  to  remain  in  the  capacity  of 
Hall's  assistant  director.3  Hall  had  needed  this  help 
and  had  sought  it  with  the  aid  of  Dr.  David  Murray, 
a  distinguished  educator  and  Rutgers  graduate  who 
was  then  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Regents.  Just 
at  this  time  the  chances  of  succession  to  the  chan- 
cellorship of  the  Board  of  Regents  in  which  senior- 
ity in  term  of  office  prevailed,  brought  to  the  top 

*Dr.  John  C.  Smock,  an  excellent  geologist,  retired  from  the 
service  after  a  few  years,  to  become  State  Geologist  of  New  Jersey, 
and  later  one  of  the  Commissioners  of  the  Natural  History  Survey 
of  that  State.  A  man  of  versatile  interests  and  superior  executive 
talent,  he  has  remained  through  these  years  of  service  to  a  sister 
State  and  until  today,  a  resident  of  New  York. 


OFFICIAL  OBSTACLES  497 

a  man  who  had  conceived  a  hostility  to  Professor 
Hall  and  evinced  a  purpose  to  rigidly  supervise  and 
curtail  his  liberties.  Thus  arose  a  troublesome  and 
powerful  assault  carried  on  in  lamentable  and  tor- 
tuous ways,  distracting  and  distressful  to  a  man 
nearing  his  eightieth  year  with  his  heart  set  on  the 
completion  of  his  work.  And  it  was  a  pitiful  thing 
to  see  this  ancient,  venerable,  powerfully  productive 
savant  who  had  challenged  world-wide  admiration 
for  his  pertinacious  prowess  and  accomplishments 
and  had  brought  great  distinction  on  his  science  and 
on  the  State  which  had  fostered  it,  subjected  to 
annoying  restraint  which  to  him  could  be  naught 
else  than  persecution.  But  the  sudden  death  of  the 
chancellor  ended  it  and  the  Regents  revolted  so 
spontaneously  against  the  assault  as  to  bring  from 
Hall  the  pious  ejaculation  that  he  had  always 
"  found  that  the  Lord  was  on  his  side."  The  salva- 
tion of  Hall's  latter  days  grew  out  of  this  attack, 
for  at  the  instance  of  Andrew  S.  Draper,  a  Regent 
by  virtue  of  his  office  as  Superintendent  of  Public 
Instruction,  a  legislative  bill  was  drawn  which  was 
designed  to,  and  eventually  did  put  Hall  and  his 
work  on  a  footing  independent  of  the  Regents' 
control. 

In  1886,  Professor  O.  C.  Marsh  asked  Mr. 
Beecher  to  come  to  Yale  and  thither  he  went,  for  a 
while  still  maintaining  informal  relations  with  the 
State  Museum  but  these  were  terminated  in  1889 

32 


498  JAMES  HALL 

by  action  of  the  Regents.  Albany  had  been  to  him 
a  place  where  he  had  caught  an  inspiration  for  his 
work  and  a  knowledge  of  its  procedures  that  were 
to  be  his  best  asset  and  the  basis  of  the  researches 
which  are  held  today  in  high  esteem. 

In  the  autumn  of  1885,  I  came  to  Albany  partly 
to  attend,  so  far  as  I  might  be  permitted,  a  meeting 
of  the  National  Academy  of  Sciences  which  was 
held  in  the  basement  lecture  room  of  the  old  Geo- 
logical Hall,  but  more  particularly  to  show  to  Pro- 
fessor Hall  and  Mr.  Beecher  a  quantity  of  new 
things  in  trilobite  and  crustacean  lines  which  I  had 
been  extracting  from  the  Devonian  rocks  in  western 
New  York.  The  first  part  of  my  experience  was 
tremendously  illuminating  to  a  young  man.  Marsh 
was  then  president  of  the  Academy,  and  it  was  part 
of  my  privilege  to  be  admitted  to  the  banquet  hall 
in  the  evening  after  the  tables  were  cleared  of  all 
but  the  great  bowl  of  that  classic,  fascinating  but 
insiduous  fluid,  the  "  Regents  punch,"  in  response 
to  whose  inspirations  the  scientific  oratory  seemed 
to  take  on  a  mellow  brilliance.  I  shall  never  forget 
my  first  glowing  impressions  of  the  Academicians 
there  present  and  of  whom  there  still  remain 
Raphael  Pumpelly,  A.  Graham  Bell  and  Edward  S. 
Morse.  As  for  the  rest  of  my  errand,  the  trilobites 
made  so  effective  an  appeal  that  I  was  to  join  the 
force  at  once  and  trust  to  good  luck  to  edge  my 
way  into  the  service.  On  the  first  of  January,  1886, 


THE  STATE  HALL  499 

nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  found  me  in  front  of 
the  great  stove  in  Mr.  Hall's  "  office  "  on  the  Bea- 
verkill,  trying  to  dry  my  soaked  clothes  after  a 
rough  tramp  of  two  miles  through  a  foot  of  freshly 
fallen  snow.  No  one  else  was  there;  but  presently 
the  ruddy  Santa  Claus  of  Hall's  figure  coming  in 
from  breakfast,  appeared  through  the  door  and 
with  a  gray  look  of  surprise  in  his  spectacles  as  he 
saw  me  by  the  stove,  he  said :  "  Oh,  yes.  How 
do  you  do?  How  do  you  do?  Could  you  lend  me 
two  dollars  ? "  Then  began  my  association  of 
twelve  years  with  this  extraordinary  man  whom  I 
had  known  slightly  for  ten  years  past  but  whose 
equations  I  had  yet  to  learn,  and  thus  arose  the 
necessity  which  now  compels  me  to  project  myself 
into  this  narrative. 

Under  a  legislative  provision  of  1884,  the  State 
Hall  on  Eagle  street,  a  beautiful  marble  building 
which  had  been  erected  fifty  years  before  for  de- 
partment offices,  was  to  be  made  over  to  the  State 
Museum  subject  to  evacuation  by  its  occupants;  it 
being  assumed  that  the  department  officials  would 
transfer  themselves  to  the  new  State  Capitol,  then 
nearing  completion.  The  plan  never  worked  out 
very  well,  for  the  departments  with  large  staffs 
would  not  move,  but  as  the  smaller  departments 
went  out  the  Museum  officials  went  in,  and  here  and 
there  over  the  building,  some  on  one  floor  and  some 
on  others,  rooms  were  fitted  up  for  their  reception. 


500  JAMES  HALL 

The  underlying  purpose  of  the  plan  was  to  get  Hall 
and  the  State  Collections  then  in  his  personal  pos- 
session out  from  the  quiet  nest  on  the  Beaverkill 
where  so  much  palaeontology  had  been  incubated 
and  hatched,  down  on  the  street  where  the  allseeing 
eye  could  penetrate  their  mysteries.  And  so  the 
change  required  much  fitting  and  refitting  of  cases, 
the  transfer  of  tons  of  specimens,  and  ended!  for  the 
time  being  in  the  location  of  the  geological  work 
and  its  materials  on  the  top  floor  of  the  State  Hall, 
with  Professor  Hall  installed  in  an  office  room  at 
the  northwest  corner  and  myself  in  another  at  the 
southeast  corner  of  the  building,  mine  being  the 
room  which  had  previously  been  occupied  by  Doctor 
E.  B.  O'Callaghan  while  preparing  the  Colonial  and 
Documentary  Histories  of  New  York.  That  room 
I  occupied  twenty-five  years ;  but  we  never  acquired 
any  wider  occupancy  of  the  building  which  is  now 
still  keeping  the  classic  beauty  of  its  original  archi- 
tecture, the  official  residence  of  the  State  Judiciary. 
State  functions  were  assuredly  mixed  in  that  his- 
toric place.  Palaeontology  hobnobbed  with  the 
Department  of  Banks  and  Botany  with  the  State 
Engineers,  while  Entomology  projected  its  timid 
head  out  amongst  an  army  of  the  Comptroller's 
bookkeepers.  It  was  in  this  building,  then,  that  Pro- 
fessor Hall  had  his  official  residence  from  the  time 
of  my  arrival  to  the  end  of  his  life.  My  own  ex- 
perience on  the  "  hill  "  or  the  Hall  estate  was  very 


HALL  AT  SEVENTY-FIVE  501 

brief,  but  long  enough  to  give  the  assurance  that  I 
was  the  last  of  that  long  array  of  Hall's  official 
aides  who  had  served  there :  Meek,  Hayden,  White, 
Gabb,  Whitfield,  Walcott,  Beecher  and  others;  and 
it  lay  in  the  lap  of  destiny  that  I  was  to  be  the  sur- 
vivor of  my  chief. 

The  most  impressive  feature  of  the  work,  to 
which  I  brought  a  boundless  enthusiasm,  was  Pro- 
fessor Hall  himself.  Never  for  a  moment  did  he 
lose  his  picturesqueness.  His  round,  full-blooded 
figure,  his  heavy  snowy  beard  running  well  up  over 
his  ruddy  cheeks,  an  always  erect  carriage  and  a 
square  level  look  out  from  under  thick  brows  and 
over  his  Moorish  nose;  dressed  in  an  old  coat  and 
in  trousers  which  buttoned  down  the  sides  after 
the  fashion  of  1830;  he  was  bound  to  attract  atten- 
tion and  curiosity.  Every  morning  after  the  new  re- 
gime started,  his  man  Tom  drove  him  from  his  home 
in  a  broken-down,  one-seated  cart  which  had  once 
owned  a  top  but  lost  it  long  since,  drawn  by  a 
broken-down  nag  which  had  also  seen  better  days 
and  had  like  as  not  been  taken  in  exchange  for 
apples  or  old  specimen  boxes,  his  capacious  snow- 
crowned  figure  capped  with  a  chimney-pot  hat  tow- 
ering above  his  diminutive  driver  —  the  jogging 
figure  through  the  Albany  streets  was  sure  to 
compel  notice.  Of  his  irascibility  he  had  at  this 
time  lost  little,  but  in  address  and  personal  inter- 
course he  was  deferential,  impressive  and  punctili- 


502  JAMES  HALL 

ously  courteous.  When  the  occasion  demanded  he 
was  fearlessly  profane,  after  the  manner  of  the 
vieux  temps  when  profanity  was  an  art.  He  drank 
no  little  tea,  took  a  little  cognac  only  with  his  meals, 
though  possessed  of  a  collection  of  liquors  of  wide 
repute,  but  he  had  no  toleration  for  tobacco  or  such 
lesser  vices.  In  the  legislative  halls  where  he  was 
frequently  to  be  found,  not  only  on  his  scientific 
business  but  often  for  others  (his  repute  as  a  suc- 
cessful pleader  before  committees  brought  him  too 
many  cries  for  help  from  others  to  whom  he  was 
certain  to  turn  again  when  his  own  fates  were  in 
the  shadow),  he  was  treated  with  universal  respect, 
for  the  singleness  of  his  own  purposes  was  never 
open  to  question.  He  laid  on  the  paraphernalia  of 
impressiveness.  About  this  time  he  had  hurt  his  lit- 
tle finger  getting  off  a  Boston  street  car,  and  he  was 
daily  subject  to  the  winces  of  sciatica,  so  when  on 
business  bent  he  was  wont  to  appear  in  the  Halls  of 
State  with  one  arm  in  a  black  cloth  sling,  a  walking 
stick  in  his  free  hand  helping  a  limping  leg,  followed 
by  his  secretary,  Jacob  Van  Deloo,  lugging  a  great 
portfolio  of  his  unfinished  work  for  whose  help  he 
was  interceding;  and  in  the  presence  of  a  com- 
mittee, this  maimed  and  crippled  old  man  would  tell 
of  his  plans  still  unrealized,  of  his  hopes  that  he 
might  be  spared  to  finish  his  work;  he  would  talk 
of  Lamellibranchiata  and  Brachiopoda  and  Crus- 
tacea in  the  most  technical  language  he  could  sum- 


PLAIN  TALK  503 

mon  and  would  leave  his  auditors  benumbed  with 
admiration. 

The  distinguished  Commissioner  of  Education, 
Andrew  S.  Draper,  Hall's  friend  of  many  years 
who  had  served  the  legislature  as  chairman  of  the 
Finance  Committee,  used  to  tell  of  his  coming  be- 
fore that  committee  on  his  ancient  quest  while  the 
members  in  best  of  heart  thought  to  have  their 
pleasantries  with  him.  So  they  began  to  ply  him 
with:  "  Well,  Professor  Hall,  what  have  you  done 
with  that  money  we  gave  you  in  1873  ?  "  And 
"  didn't  you  give  a  promise  to  finish  your  pailon- 
tology  in  1848?"  with  more  of  the  sort  —  where- 
upon the  aged  Professor  whose  neck  had  been 
bulging  and  his  face  getting  redder  under  the  ban- 
tering, swept  his  documents  together,  brought  his 
lame  hand  out  of  his  sling  and  down  on  the  table 
with  a  bang,  shouted  in  the  teeth  of  his  inquisitors, 

"  D n  you,  gentlemen,  is  science  to  stand  and 

wait  upon  the  pleasure  of  a  legislative  committee !", 
picked  up  his  portfolio,  waved  his  stick  menacingly 
in  their  faces  and  marched  out.  "And,"  added  Dr. 
Draper,  "  of  course  we  gave  him  what  he  wanted." 
Indeed  in  one  year  they  gave  him  $83,000  for  his 
Palaeontology. 

To  himself,  a  wrong  fancied  or  real,  and  there 
were  plenty  of  both,  was  a  crime  beyond  forgive- 
ness. An  injustice  to  another  might  be  passed  over, 
but  never  one  to  himself.  And  it  was  this  egocen- 


504  JAMES  HALL 

trie  habit  of  mind  that  made  Hall  so  parsimonious 
in  his  acknowledgment  of  scientific  assistance  even 
up  to  those  days  when  he  had  of  necessity  ceased 
to  do  much  else  than  plan  the  work  whose  execu- 
tion fell  wholly  on  the  shoulders  of  the  younger 
men. 

Bologna  Congress. 

In  1881  Hall  went  to  Bologna  to  attend  the  sec- 
ond session  of  the  International  Geological  Con- 
gress of  which  that  year  Senator  Capellini  was 
president.  He  was  not  long  away  and  found  time 
only  for  short  visits  to  his  friends  Hebert  in  Paris 
and  Desor  at  his  home  in  the  Jura,  but  especially  to 
enjoy  the  unstinted  hospitality  of  Barrois  at  Lille. 
Barrois  was  just  then  very  actively  engaged  in  the 
study  of  the  old  rocks  of  Brittany  and  the  Asturias 
and  the  subjects  were  of  mutual  concern.  Barrois's 
devotion  to  Hall  was  sincere  and  beautiful  and  I 
know  how  deep  was  the  affection  with  which  Hall 
responded.  This  distant  friend  came  forward  at 
every  opportunity  with  offers  of  help  to  correct  his 
proofs,  to  compile  his  bibliographies,  to  supply  him 
with  materials,  laying  his  successive  works  before 
the  Societe  Geologique  du  Nord  and  reviewing  them 
all  for  the  French  journals. 

A  part  of  the  outcome  of  the  Bologna  Congress 
was  expressed  in  this  letter  from  Senator  Capellini : 
"  I  am  happy  to  inform  you  that  H.  M.  The  King 


ITALIAN  GEOLOGISTS  505 

of  Italy,  the  27  last  March  signed  an  order  by  which 
you  are  named: 

Commendatore  dell'Ordine  di  San  Maurizio  e 
Lazzaro." 

And  there  were  other  interesting  echoes  of  this 
meeting.  Joseph  Meneghini  of  Pisa,  whose  work 
on  the  Cambrian  faunas  of  Sardinia  have  estab- 
lished his  repute,  writes  to  "  My  reverenced  Ma's- 
ter,"  to  say  in  his  well  intentioned  English,  that 
"  Italy  is  proud  to  such  a  guest.  I  have  had  in- 
scribed your  name  among  the  more  glorify  visitors 
and  I  glory  myself  of  the  happiness  I  have  had  to 
speak  familiarly  and  walk  arm-in-arm  with  the 
venerable  theor  of  all  the  paleontologists  of  our 
days.  *  *  *  I  wish  you  may  get  happily  a  great 
deal  years  beneficially  to  the  science,  accompli- 
mently  the  desires  of  your  friends  and  admirers." 

It  may  be  of  interest  to  mention  here  as  one  of  the 
enterprises  which  grew  out  of  the  Bologna  Con- 
gress, the  ambitious  project  of  the  Marquis  An- 
tonio de  Gregorio,  of  Palermo,  for  an  international 
Geological  society  which  was  to  publish  bulletins 
and  memoirs,  notes  for  the  Comptes  rendus  of  "  the 
100  of  sciences  of  Paris,"  to  be  published  in  Eng- 
lish, French,  Italian  and  German  in  London,  Paris, 
Boston,  Rome,  New  York,  St.  Petersburg,  Vienna 
and  Calcutta,  the  headquarters  of  the  enterprise  to 
be  at  Zurich.  With  all  its  apparent  virtues  the 


506  JAMES  HALL 

scheme  died  a-borning  but  the  thought  comes  to 
us  today  that  perhaps  no  better  project  could  be 
devised  now  to  bind  up  the  wounds  of  geological 
science.* 

Among  the  prominent  geologists  Hall  met  at 
Bologna  was  Blanford  who  was  just  bringing  to  a 
close  his  long  and  important  work  in  India  where 
he  had  been  engaged  for  nearly  thirty  years. 
William  T.  Blanford's  active  life  as  naturalist  and 
geologist  was  spent  in  the  Orient  and  in  the  inter- 
vals of  his  association  with  the  Indian  Geological 
Survey  he  was  engaged  with  the  geology  and  zool- 
ogy of  Abyssinia  and  Persia.  He  had  returned  to 
Calcutta  from  Bologna  and  tells  Hall  (Nov.  1881)  : 

"  I  am  writing  from-  the  foot  o-f  the  Bolan  Pass  and  I 
expect  to  go  up  the  Pass  to  Quetta  [on  the  border  of 
Afghanistan]  in  a  day  or  two.  I  hear  the  country  is 
remarkably  quiet  now,  the  fact  of  one  man  having  been 
fired  at  being  quoted  as  something  unusual.  A  year  ago 
things  were  very  different.  I  have  a  line  nearly  if  not  quite 
500  miles  long  to  march  over  along  the  base  of  the  hills 
after  returning  from  Quetta." 

Not  long  after  his  retirement  from  the  Indian 
service  Blanford  became  president  of  the  Geo- 
logical Society  of  London. 

4  The  Marquis  de  Gregorio  was  then  a  young  man  of  27,  already 
giving  evidence  of  his  versatile  productiveness  in  many  sciences,  to 
which  he  had  added  the  composition  of  several  operas. 


JOACHIM  BARRANDE  507 

Death  of  Barrande. 

In  1883  died  Barrande,  a  French  royalist  in 
"  exile  "  in  Bohemia  and  whose  labors  in  revealing 
the  wealth  of  fossil  life  in  the  palaeozoic  limestone 
basin  of  Bohemia  constitute  one  of  the  extraordi- 
nary performances  in  the  history  of  geological  sci- 
ence. The  panorama  of  fossil  life  of  that  country, 
which  he  set  forth  in  a  vast  procession  of  great 
quartos,  surpassed  that  of  New  York  in  the  rich- 
ness of  the  lower  faunas,  the  Cambrian,  Ordo- 
vician  and  Silurian,  though  where  the  one  was 
poor  the  other  was  rich  and  in  New  York  it  is 
the  Devonian  that  dominates.  Barrande  and  Hall 
had  been  close  friends  for  thirty  years ;  again  and 
again  the  former's  work  had  been  set  before  the 
New  York  legislative  committees  as  an  ideal  for 
this  State  and  the  last  letter  Barrande  ever  wrote 
on  Hall's  behalf  was  addressed  (June  17,  1882)  to 
Addison  P.  Jones,  then  chairman  of  the  legislative 
committee  on  public  printing ; —  an  appeal  on  Hall's 
behalf  that  there  should  be  no  further  delay  in  pub- 
lishing his  works. 

"  The  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York," 
he  says  in  the  opening  paragraph  of  this  letter  "  has 
given  a  proof  of  its  noble  impulses  and  a  great 
example  of  its  liberality  to  science,  in  ordering 
many  years  ago,  the  publication  of  the  "  Palaeon- 
tology of  New  York  " ;  and  in  closing  it  he  adds : 
"  I  may  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  'Systeme 


508  JAMES  HALL 

Silurien  du  Centre  de  la  Boheme ',  an  analogous 
work  which  I  publish  under  the  royal  and  generous 
patronage  of  the  Count  de  Chambord,  has  never 
suffered  any  interruption." 

Barrande,  unlike  Hall,  was  not  permitted  to  see 
the  conclusion  of  the  great  work  that  he  had 
planned.  He  was  indeed  crushed  under  the  em- 
barras  des  richesses  which  the  Bohemian  rocks  had 
yielded  and  his  later  works  could  be  little  else  than 
the  pictured  panorama  of  this  ancient  life ;  but  pious 
hands  took  up  the  work  where  he  dropped  it  and 
carried  it  toward  its  founder's  hoped-for  goal. 

Evolution. 

No  one  was  ever  able  to  inveigle  Hall  into  a 
discussion  of  the  evolution  of  life,  though  these 
years  were  rife  with  warm  debates  over  the  proposi- 
tons  of  Darwinism.  Unlike  his  contemporary, 
Agassiz,  who  took  a  conservative  but  positive  atti- 
tude on  the  subject,  Hall  would  take  none  at  all. 
A  life  of  persistent  research  should,  it  would  seem, 
as  the  years  increase  and  the  facts  pile  up,  grasp 
the  broader  bearings  of  the  things  it  had  been  doing 
and  the  facts  it  had  been  harvesting.  But  Hall 
was  no  longer  disposed  to  philosophy ;  it  was  ever 
conditions  not  theories  that  confronted  him  and  he 
went  on  heaping  up  new  facts  to  the  end.  Among 
the  friends  he  had  made  in  his  geological  work  in 
New  York  was  James  R.  Eaton,  a  son  of  the  first 


JOHN   COLLETT  509 

president  of  Madison  [Colgate]  University.  In 
these  years  Mr.  Eaton  was  professor  of  the  physical 
sciences  at  William  Jewell  College,  Liberty,  Mo., 
and  he  was  unremitting  in  his  bombardment  of 
questions  relating  to  evolution  which  Hall  does  not 
choose  to  take  the  time  to  answer,  and  Eaton  ex- 
presses the  hope  that  "  Some  time  before  you  go 
up  to  the  New  Jerusalem  you  will  do  so."  His  let- 
ters run  on  for  many  years;  and  in  his  last  letter 
(1894)  he  says:  "And  tonight  thinking  over  the 
Now  and  Then  when  you  were  my  inspiration  as  a 
boy,  the  longing  came  over  me  to  get  one  more 
hail  from  you  this  side  of  the  river.  Wont  we  have 
a  glorious  time  over  there  solving  the  problems  of 
organic  evolution !  "  Professor  Eaton  died  in  1897, 
one  year  before  Hall. 

Miscellanies. 

Among  the  many  beautiful  contributions  to  his 
science  that  Hall  had  made  in  the  State  Museum 
reports  which  he  freely  used  to  carry  his  lesser 
papers,  was  one  on  the  rich  Silurian  fauna  of 
Waldron,  Indiana.  There  had  now  come  into 
charge  of  the  State  Geological  organization  of  In- 
diana, John  Collett,  M.  D.,  a  lovable  man,  well 
tried  in  statecraft  and  with  a  high  purpose  to  make 
his  work  of  real  worth  to  the  people  of  his  State. 
Dr.  Collett  had  been  a  State  senator,  had  held  other 
civic  positions  and  as  State  geologist  he  persuaded 


510  JAMES  HALL 

Hall  to  permit  the  reprinting  of  his  Waldron  paper, 
and  another  on  the  Mississippian  fauna  of  Spergen 
Hill,  arranging  to  have  these  brought  up  to  the 
fuller  knowledge  which  new  data  would  give.  Hall 
consented,  Mr.  Beecher  was  engaged  to  prepare  the 
valuable  addenda  and  Dr.  Collett  incorporated  them 
all  in  his  annual  reports;  and  down  upon  him 
swooped  the  Indianapolis  Sentinel  with  virulent 
allegations  as  to  thus  wasting  the  public  funds. 
Collett's  friends  rallied  to  his  justification  but  when 
the  great  botanist  Leo  Lesquereux  protested,  the 
offending  sheet  printed  the  protest  under  the  cap- 
tion: A  Professional  Proof  of  Pedantry  and  a 
Laughable  Learned  Defense  of  Debility.  This  sort 
of  treatment  seemed  to  be  a  rallying  cry  to  all  the 
scientific  men  of  the  State  who  with  one  accord 
came  to  Collett's  aid  with  such  effective  rebukes  to 
worldliness  that  his  future  procedure  was  un- 
trammeled. 

It  is  a  rather  interesting  fact  that  Hall's  legis- 
lative appeals  for  aid  almost  invariably  found  bet- 
ter support  from  the  Democrats  than  from  the 
Republicans.  When  the  Democracy  was  in  control, 
so  was  Hall,  but  under  Republican  supremacy 
Palaeontology  had  a  hard  road  to  travel.  This  atti- 
tude is,  I  think,  explicable  thus  (I  speak  as  one 
trained  in  Republican  tenets)  :  The  wise  Democrats 
were  ever  willing  to  concede  that  there  might  well 
be  meritorious  and  creditable  State  activities  which 


SCIENCE  AND  THE  DEMOCRACY    511 

were  outside  of  their  personal  understanding,  but 
with  the  Republicans  every  such  activity  must  be 
subjected  to  their  touchstone;  if  beyond  their  grasp, 
so  much  the  worse  for  it.  Hall,  in  his  anxiety  of 
1882,  went  straight  to  John  Kelly,  Grand  Sachem 
of  the  Tammany  Wigwam  and  the  despoiler  of  the 
Tweed  Ring,  and  to  Edward  Murphy,  the  pilot  of 
the  State  Democracy  and  found  relief  in  most  sub- 
stantial figures,  enough,  it  was  thought  and  prom- 
ised, to  carry  the  Palaeontology  through  to  its  end. 
But  as  there  could  be  no  end  to  a  progressive  science, 
a  few  years  proved  that  the  appropriations  did  not 
keep  pace  with  the  promise.  All  the  more  grateful 
were  these  libations  to  science  on  the  part  of  the 
Democracy  as  Mr.  Hall  had  just  been  pretty  se- 
verely handled  by  the  Republican  Governor  Cornell. 
But  science  and  statesmanship  do  sometimes  mix 
and  these  years  bore  witness  to  the  intense  interest 
which  General  F.  E.  Spinner  (to  whom  we  have 
referred  and  who  served  so  long,  as  Treasurer  of 
the  United  States  under  the  appointment  of  Presi- 
dent Lincoln)  still  carried  into  his  declining  years. 
General  Spinner's  home  was  at  German  Flatts  or 
Mohawk  and  he  was  now  spending  parts  of  his 
summers  there  and  his  winters  in  Florida.  He 
writes  in  October  1883 :  "  I  am  at  work  on  the 
Miocene  shells  of  the  Coast  of  Florida.  I  spent  last 
summer  on  the  Coast  of  New  England  and  suc- 
ceeded in  making  large  and  fine  collections  of  fresh 


512  JAMES  HALL 

water  and  land  shells  from  the  interior  of  Vermont 
and  New  Hampshire.  I  had  the  good  luck  to  meet 
Prof.  Baird  and  his  corps  of  assistants  at  Woods 
Holl  on  Martha's  Vineyard.  He  promised  to  send 
the  Steamer  Fish  Hawk  to  Florida  during  the  com- 
ing winter,  so  I  am  anticipating  a  nice  time."  A 
year  later  he  writes :  "  I  am  again  at  my  old  Mo- 
hawk home  rummaging  among  fossils  and  shells, 
some  of  which  were  collected  by  me  half  a  century 
ago.  There  are  few  days  in  my  long  life  in  which 
I  have  had  more  real  enjoyment  than  those  I  spent 
with  you  and  that  best  of  men  Lardner  Vanuxem, 
in  the  field  knocking  fossils  out  of  the  rocks."  Gen- 
eral Spinner  was  then  81  years  of  age.  He  died 
in  1890. 

And  just  in  these  years  occurred  an  incident  of 
a  serio-comic  scientific  sort,  forgotten  now  no  doubt 
but  still  with  a  lesson  upon  reserve  in  statement  of 
scientific  conclusions.  The  American  Association 
for  the  Advancement  of  Science  met  in  Philadel- 
phia in  1884  where  Professor  Henry  S.  Williams 
of  Cornell  University  gave  an  account  of  his  work 
in  running  cross-sections  of  the  Upper  Devonian 
strata  of  southwestern  New  York  from  which  he 
deduced  a  "mongrel  fauna  "  between  the  Chemung 
and  the  overlying  red  beds  of  the  Catskill  forma- 
tion. In  the  discussion  which  followed  Mr.  Hall 
applauded  the  paper,  though  questioning  the  wisdom 
of  the  expression  "  mongrel  fauna."  Then  E.  W. 


A  LARGE  ORDER  513 

Claypole,  of  the  Pennsylvania  geologists,  took  up  the 
thread  of  the  discussion  declaring  that  he  too  had 
found  a  fauna  between  the  Catskill  and  Chemung 
which  carried  the  two  Spirifers,  S.  disjunctus  and 
S.  mesastrialis,  indices  of  very  distinct  geological 
horizons.  This  statement  brought  the  septuagen- 
arian to  his  feet  with  positive  declaration  that  it 
was  not  only  contrary  to  his  long  experience  but  to 
the  facts.  The  warmth  of  the  contention  excited 
the  attention  of  the  reporter  for  the  Philadelphia 
Press  which  came  out  the  next  morning  with  the 
story  that  Hall  had  said :  "  If  any  one  will  show 
me  these  two  Spirifers  side  by  side  in  the  same 
rock,  I  will  sacrifice  my  life's  work.  I  will  give  up 
my  reputation,  eat  my  hat  and  make  the  person 
who  shows  me  the  rock  a  present  of  my  coat  and 
boots !  "  The  story  was  good  and  was  sent  broad- 
cast to  the  newspapers  with  amplifications,  the  New 
York  Tribune  adding  that  Professor  Williams  took 
the  next  train  for  Ithaca,  sent  on  a  piece  of  rock 
containing  the  offending  Spirifers  with  the  mes- 
sage :  "  You  have  it  now.  Please  eat  your  hat  and 
send  me  your  coat  and  boots  by  express." 

Hall  waited  patiently  a  week  or  so  and  then  wrote 
out  the  story  for  the  Albany  Argus.  He  had  di- 
rected his  strictures  to  the  statement  of  Mr.  Clay- 
pole  which  he  declared  was  as  wrong  now  as  then. 
Mr.  Williams  had  been  summoned  to  Ithaca  by  ill- 
ness at  home  and  had  sent  on  no  specimens  with 

33 


514  JAMES  HALL 

the  two  fossils  together ;  and  he  would  still  eat  his 
hat,  etc.,  if  any  one,  no  matter  who,  could  prove  his 
statement  wrong.  There  the  story  ended  except  for 
the  unenviable  notoriety  a  man  is  bound  to  get  when 
he  sends  out  the  truth  to  catch  a  lie.  But  the  fact 
remains  today  that  Hall's  claim  was  absolutely 
correct. 

Honors  and  associates. 

In  1884  Hall  was  elected  foreign  correspondent 
of  the  Academic  des  Sciences.  Albert  Gaudry  in 
announcing  this  event  writes:  "  I  am  very  happy 
that  so  eminent  a  palaeontologist  has  become  corre- 
spondent of  the  Institut  de  France  and  I  make  to 
you  all  my  compliments."  We  may  believe  that  this 
distinguished  honor  which  made  Hall  the  only 
foreign  English-speaking  member  of  the  French 
Academy  at  that  time,  was  helped  forward  by  his 
friends  Hebert,  Daubree  and  Gaudry. 

The  friends  who  made  a  part  of  James  Hall's 
life  are  necessary  to  the  picture  we  are  endeavoring 
to  draw  and  so  we  may  turn  once  more  to  that  in- 
teresting figure  in  American  geology,  J.  Peter  Les- 
ley,5 for  his  letters  during  this  period  throw  lights 
upon  his  doings  and  his  ways  of  doing  that  brighten 

s  These  are  of  course  but  incidental  touches  of  this  extraordinary 
man's  contacts  with  Hall.  Whoever  seeks  more  of  the  story  of 
his  scientific  career  will  read  Professor  William  M.  Davis's  charm- 
ing biographical  memoir  to  which  we  have  already  referred. 


/.  PETER  LESLEY  515 

the  published  biographies  of  the  man.  Lesley  was 
in  Europe  at  every  interval  he  could  find  from  his 
great  work  in  Pennsylvania  and  it  was  his  way  to 
bundle  up  some  troublesome  manuscript  and  work 
it  over  en  route. 

In  1881  he  tells  of  his  visits  to  Barrois  at  Lille, 
to  Hebert  at  Paris  and  Desor  at  Neuchatel,  off  to 
Vesuvius  with  his  daughter  and  thence  back  down 
the  Rhine.  "All  this  time  I  was  writing  my  report 
on  Perry  County  and  painting  the  map.  Nothing 
will  prevent  our  survey  going  on  for  two  years  and 
a  half,  but  we  are  out  of  funds  and  my  whole  corps 
is  furloughed.  Margaret  went  back  alone  to  Ve- 
suvius where  she  lived  three  months  and  then  went 
to  Paris  where  she  is  still  painting  in  Carolus 
Duran's  Studio."  Lesquereux's  Flora  of  the  Coal 
was  just  coming  out  and  he  has  been  reading  I.  C. 
White's  report  on  Erie  and  Crawford  counties: 
"  His  Ramsayite  ideas  on  the  efficiency  of  glaciers 
to  erode  I  have  cancelled."  In  1882  Lesley  was 
again  in  Europe  and  once  more  went  to  Combe 
Varin  to  see  Edouard  Desor  who  "  is  very  blind 
and  rheumatic  but  manages  to  keep  his  geology 
going.  His  affectionate  nature  comes  out  strong." 
It  was  a  farewell  visit,  as  shortly  after  Desor  died 
at  Nice. 

The  reports  issued  by  the  new  Pennsylvania  Sur- 
vey were  as  sands  of  the  sea  for  number  and  Lesley 


516  JAMES  HALL 

was  put  under  pressure  from  the  Governor 6  to 
prepare  a  summary  and  digest  of  all  this  work.  He 
undertook  it  reluctantly.  He  found  it  (1887)  "  ex- 
tremely difficult,  tedious  and  weary  work,"  and 
went  off  to  Europe  with  a  pair  of  sore  eyes  as  a 
result.  He  reports  to  Hall  on  his  return :  "  I  got 
in  three  solid  weeks  of  uninterrupted  work  on  my 
book.  Saw  nobody  but  Hebert  and  de  Margerie, 
one  of  the  best  of  the  young  French  geologists. 
*  *  *  You  can't  imagine  how  irksome  I  find 
this  writing  to  the  people  for  it  is  a  hopeless  task 
to  try  to  make  them  comprehend  even  the  general 
nature  of  the  questions  which  geologists  struggle 
so  unsuccessfully  to  elucidate  to  themselves.  I  am 
often  in  the  spirit  by  your  side,  looking  over  your 
shoulder,  putting  silent  questions  to  which  I  get  no 
answers  and  wishing  you  knew  how  precious  I 
think  your  long  and  constant  friendship." 

The  most  daring  thing  that  Lesley  ever  attempted 
in  his  survey  reports  was  his  own  personal  prepara- 
tion of  a  three  volume  "  Dictionary  of  Fossils."  He 
catalogued  all  the  fossils  known  to  occur  in  the 
Pennsylvania  rocks,  with  many  that  might  occur 
but  had  not  yet  been  found.  With  a  pair  of  scissors 
he  slashed  into  the  pages  of  a  whole  library  on 
palaeontology,  cutting  out  original  descriptions  and 
illustrations,  and  he  brought  Mr.  Simpson  from 

'  See  Davis's  biography. 


"  DICTIONARY  OF  FOSSILS  "        517 

Albany  to  make  new  ones.  Lesley  was  enamored 
of  the  work,  pastures  which  seemed  to  him  greener 
than  his  own.  "  I  am  buried,"  he  says,  "  in  a  beauti- 
ful hades  of  fossil  forms  and  wander  among  them 
like  a  poet  in  a  flower  garden"  (Davis,  p.  230). 
And  he  was  proud  of  the  outcome  for  the  edition  of 
books  was  soon  exhausted.  "  Jolly  nice  work  "  he 
thought  it.  In  his  preface  his  enthusiasm  shows 
itself :  "  If  Homer's  Iliad  is  immortalized,  James 
Hall's  Palaeontology  of  New  York,  a  more  sub- 
lime epic,  will  have  a  more  genuine  if  not  a  longer 
immortality." 

An  incident  here  touches  on  his  primitive  interest 
in  fossils.  In  1892  we  had  prepared  the  descrip- 
tion of  a  new  genus  of  brachiopods  which  Professor 
Hall  desired  to  name,  in  honor  of  a  lifelong  friend, 
Newberria;  and  having  printed  this  in  pamphlet 
form  Hall  sent  on  a  copy  to  Lesley.  The  nut-shaped 
shell  reminded  him,  he  writes,  of  "  sitting  on  a 
sunny  Hamilton  hillside  south  of  Schuylkill  Haven 
in  Schuylkill  Co.  a  few  miles  east  of  Pinegrove  and 
collecting  a  large  number  of  brachiopod  shells  in 
great  colonies.  The  fields  were  full  of  them.  I 
have  not  thought  of  that  adventure  for  thirty  years 
but  your  note  brought  back  the  whole  scene  vividly 
to  my  imagination.  It  was  in  fact  the  first  time  I 
have  collected  any  fossils  and  I  was  profoundly 
ignorant  of  the  whole  subject." 

The  "  Dictionary  "  had  intervened  in  his  strug- 


518  JAMES  HALL 

gles  over  the  "  Summary."  In  1888  he  broke  away 
to  attend  the  London  meeting  of  the  International 
Geological  Congress  which  he  declares  was  "  a  mere 
discussion  club,"  and,  again  back  at  his  Final  Re- 
port, he  says :  "  I  would  rather  go  to  Libby  Prison 
and  much  rather  to  the  La  Trappe  monastery  near 
Antwerp  where  one  has  to  get  a  special  permit  to  say 
to  a  brother  —  Top  of  the  morning  to  you  Taffy. 
*  *  *  You  don't  know  how  it  cheers  me  to  get  a 
line  from  you  and  any  expression  of  your  appre- 
ciation of  anything  I  do  is  a  perfect  delight  to  me. 
I  have  worked  all  my  life  so  apart  from  the  world 
that  it  has  been  a  depressive  silence  making  me 
always  doubtful  whether  I  was  doing  anything  that 
anybody  cared  a  red  cent  about." 

Soon  his  letters  grow  few,  for  Lesley  was  grow- 
ing weary.  He  writes  in  1892 ;  "  I  have  been  su- 
premely blessed  by  having  the  hearty  affection  of 
my  assistants,  and  the  reason  of  it  is  that  I  have 
loved  them  all;"  and  though  he  was  to  live  ten 
years  longer,  his  last  written  word  to  Hall  seems 
to  have  been  in  1893  congratulating  him  on  his 
victory  over  his  official  enemies;  "but,"  he  says, 
"  you  can  hardly  be  expected  to  grow  greater  for 
you  are  as  great  as  is  possible  for  any  man." 

Hall  was  one  of  the  incorporating  members  of 
the  National  Academy  of  Sciences  in  1863,  but  he 
was  at  no  time  a  regular  participant  in  its  affairs 
and  he  seldom  attended  its  meetings.  There  are 


GEOLOGICAL   MAP   OF   NEW   YORK    519 

letters  to  Joseph  Henry  in  the  seventies  saying  that 
he  could  not  afford  the  expense  of  going  to  Wash- 
ington, but  the  fact  seemed  to  be  that  the  Academy 
afforded  him  no  outlet  for  his  publications  and  as 
for  the  rest  he  was  not  concerned  in  the  material 
bearings  of  science.  Twice  the  Academy  met  in 
Albany,  in  1885  and  1893,  both  meetings  under  the 
presidency  of  Othniel  C.  Marsh. 

In  1884  the  Boston  Society  of  Natural  History 
made  to  Hall  the  award  of  its  Walker  Prize  of 
$1,000  for  the  excellence  of  his  work.  Straightway 
he  took  his  cheque  to  the  Mechanics  and  Farmers 
Bank  and  deposited  it  "  in  trust  for  Science  "  and 
he  was  wont  to  tell  his  assistants  that  this  money 
was  for  the  one  who  best  served  his  interests  in 
science  —  a  rather  hopeless  prospect  as  he  was 
almost  constitutionally  at  loggerheads  with  his 
assistants.  After  the  money  had  drawn  interest  for 
ten  years  the  bank  wanted  to  know  who  this  per- 
son "  Science  "  was  and  suggested  that  Hall  could 
not  be  the  trustee  of  his  own  trust.  So  the  prize 
and  its  promises  were  allowed  to  drop  back  into  his 
personal  account. 

Geological  Map  of  New  York 

During  these  years  of  the  early  eighties  Mr.  Hall 
felt  that  he  must  give  the  people  of  the  State  a 
reliable  geological  map  of  the  public  domain  on  a 
large  scale.  There  had  been  no  such  map  issued 


520  JAMES  HALL 

since  that  of  1843  to  accompany  the  final  reports  of 
the  four  geologists  and  Emmons's  map  of  1844 
specially  colored  to  display  his  Taconic  System. 
Both  of  these  were  of  a  smaller  scale  than  Hall  now 
proposed.  His  scientific  colleagues  for  years  had 
been  assuring  him  that  with  his  intimate  knowledge 
of  the  geology  of  the  State  the  preparation  of  such 
a  map  would  be  but  a  simple  task  of  drafting ;  and 
so  he  entered  upon  it,  little  realizing  that  no  one 
man's  knowledge,  however  refined,  can  suffice  for 
such  an  undertaking.  The  making  of  this  map  was 
a  serious  thing  to  begin  amidst  his  other  labors  and 
it  called  for  detailed  resurveys  of  regions  all  over 
the  State.  The  writer  participated  in  this  work 
before  coming  to  Albany ; 6  Mr.  Beecher,  Edward 
Hall,  W  J  McGee,  Nelson  H.  Darton,  Charles  S. 
Prosser,  F.  J.  H.  Merrill  and  others  were  in  the 
field  during  the  years  which  elapsed  before  this 
map  could  be  issued.  McGee  was  the  master  spirit 
in  control  of  the  work,  representing  not  merely  the 
cooperation  of  Major  Powell  and  the  United  States 
Geological  Survey  but  his  own  personal  devotion 
to  the  venerable  New  York  geologist  for  whom  an 
early  life  in  the  fields  of  Iowa  had  inspired  respect. 
Only  with  great  and  tedious  labors  did  the  work 
come  through  —  an  entirely  new  map  of  the  State 
on  large  scale  with  an  original  geographic  base  — 

a  Geological  Survey  of  Ontario  County :     Ann.  Rept.  State  Geol. 
1884. 


GEOLOGICAL    SOCIETY  521 

still  the  best  map  the  State  has.  But  such  a  map 
can  never  satisfactorily  express  geological  facts 
either  of  structure  or  succession ;  only  the  latter  can 
be  approximately  represented  in  broad  lines  sug- 
gesting little  of  historical  evolution  and  the  broad 
sweep  of  the  strands  out  of  which  the  lands  have 
emerged.  While  it  is  a  panorama  of  high  educative 
value  to  an  elementary  student,  its  other  worth  is 
chiefly  to  the  past-master  of  the  science  whose  com- 
prehensive eye  sweeps  the  lineaments  of  the  whole 
terraqueous  globe. 

Geological  Society  of  America 

The  Geological  Society  of  America,  now  prob- 
ably among  the  largest  and  most  rigidly  exclu- 
sive bodies  of  geologists  in  the  world,  came 
into  being  in  1888  as  the  result  of  a  voluntary  call 
originating  from  the  Winchells  and  some  others 
for  an  "  assemblage  of  geologists  "  at  the  meeting 
of  the  American  Association  for  the  Advancement 
of  Science,  in  Cleveland  during  the  month  of  Au- 
gust. The  meeting  was  held,  a  Committee  of  Or- 
ganization appointed  to  get  together  at  Ithaca  in 
December  and  then,  with  Alexander  Winchell  as 
chairman,  was  delivered  of  the  infant  society  of 
which  Hall  was  chosen  president,  with  Dana  and 
A.  Winchell  vice-presidents  and  John  J.  Stevenson 
secretary.  The  honor  came  to  Hall,  the  labor  to  the 
organizing  secretary  whose  patience  and  skillful 


522  JAMES  HALL 

handling  guided  the  sturdy  child  on  its  successful 
career.  The  early  days  of  the  Society  were  filled 
with  spirit,  the  joys  of  contention,  honest  rivalry 
and  good  fellowship  —  the  traits  of  lusty  growth, 
now  too  much  lost  in  the  pressure  of  serious 
concerns. 

Palaeontology  VI 

Palaeontology  Volume  VI  was  devoted  to  the 
description  of  the  Corals  and  Bryozoa,  principally 
the  latter,  from  the  formations  of  the  Devonian 
Period.  It  contained  298  pages  and  66  quarto 
plates  and  was  issued  in  1887.  The  especially  at- 
tractive feature  of  this  book  was  the  work  of 
George  B.  Simpson,  who  was  at  first  the  delineator 
of  the  magnified  bryozoan  structures  and  who  by 
virtue  of  the  acquaintance  with  these  objects 
thereby  attained,  became  the  describer  and  thus  the 
virtual  author  of  the  book.  These  objects,  minute, 
intricate  and  beautiful,  were  a  source  of  great 
anxiety  to  Hall's  old  eyes  and  he  called  in  Dr.  Carl 
Rominger  to  help  him  out  and  to  reassure  him  of 
the  validity  of  his  assistant's  work.  He  never  was 
reassured,  never  felt  confident  that  the  work  was 
either  wisely .  executed  or  presented  an  adequate 
survey  of  the  field.  Yet  it  has  stood  up  well  under 
resurvey  and  criticism  and  Mr.  Simpson  was  in 
fact  an  excellent  observer  with  extraordinary  skill 
in  delineation.  To  the  credit  of  Mr.  Simpson,  who 


ISAAC  LEA  523 

was  a  son  of  Professor  Hall's  sister,  stands  his 
work  on  the  anatomy  of  the  fresh-water  mussel 
Anodonta  fluviatilis  (published  in  the  Museum  Re- 
port of  1882),  of  which  the  distinguished  and  aged 
Isaac  Lea  wrote  to  Hall : 
West  End,  Long  Branch 
Sept.  21  — 

"  I  must  compliment  Mr.  Simpson  for  having  produced 
so  admirable  and  perfect  a  paper  on  the  Anodonta.  It  is 
better  by  far  than  any  which  have  preceded  it.  In  fact  he 
has  exhausted  the  subject.  Agassiz  states  that  he  had 
examined  the  soft  parts  of  80  species  of  the  Unionidae.  I 
had  the  soft  parts  of  284  and  stated  where  they  were  dif- 
ferent from  other  species.  The  plates  by  Mr.  Simpson 
are  exceedingly  well  executed  and  the  whole  do  great  credit 
to  your  State  Museum. 

Very  truly  your  old  friend 

ISAAC  LEA 

Please  excuse  writing  with  pencil.  I  am  now  well  on  in 
my  95th  year. 

Palaeontology  VII 

The  seventh  volume  of  the  Palaeontology  was 
concerned  with  the  Trilobites  of  the  Devonian  rocks 
of  New  York,  an  interesting  group  to  palaeontolo- 
gists and  particularly  so  to  me,  as  my  first  assign- 
ment was  to  this  work.  There  was  really  not  enough 
of  this  material  to  make  a  whole  volume,  though  we 
managed  to  bring  together  in  this  book  some 
account  of  all  the  Devonian  trilobites  that  had  been 
discovered  in  America,  and  among  them  the  highly 


524  JAMES  HALL 

ornate  and  sometimes  gigantic  forms  which  ap- 
peared with  the  decline  of  this  great  group;  so 
there  was  added  an  account  of  the  Devonian  pod- 
shrimps  or  Phyllopods  which  introduced  a  very 
goodly  number  of  interesting  novelties  and  made  a 
notable  addition  to  the  fauna  of  the  Devonian  Sys- 
tem of  the  world.  Among  these  was  the  great  five 
foot  Stylonurus  whose  head,  found  in  the  Catskill 
Mountains,  had  been  carried  off  to  Rutgers  College, 
New  Jersey,  but  which  Hall  had  branded  with  the 
legend  of  New  York  by  describing  as  S.  excelsior! 
This  book  on  the  Crustaceans  was  a  substantial  de- 
scriptive work  which  has  served  well,  but  it  at- 
tempted nothing  very  serious  in  the  way  of 
classification;  it  did  however  establish  some  inter- 
esting facts  in  development  or  ontogeny.7 

But  still  it  was  below  the  average  in  thickness,  so 
its  author  fattened  it  by  adding  plates  on  the  Mol- 
lusks  and  Annelids  which  were  noted  as  supple- 
mentary to  Volume  V,  part  2. 

In  some  of  the  early  American  window  glass 

7  Mr.  Beecher  was  in  Albany  while  these  studies  were  in  progress 
and  the  ontogenic  stages  of  Cryphaeus  which  I  had  brought  together 
and  illustrated  excited  his  keen  interest" ;  so  together  during  the  open 
season  we  spent  week  ends  in  the  Helderbergs  searching  the  half 
silicified  New  Scotland  limestone  for  trilobites  of  which  a  great 
harvest  was  reaped.  It  was  through  the  sharp  rivalry  in  these 
hunts  and  the  timely  discovery  of  a  layer  in  which  all  the  material 
of  the  sea  bottom  was  delicately  replaced  by  silica,  that  the  material 
was  found  on  which  Beecher  based  his  long  continued  and  important 
studies  of  trilobite  development  and  classification. 


VISIONS  REALIZED  525 

factories  it  was  a  traditional  practise  brought  from 
England,  to  give  to  the  workmen  all  that  stuck  to 
the  pot  when  the  glass  was  poured,  so  while  the 
factory  made  window  glass  the  workmen  would 
make  up  their  shares  into  bottles,  vases  or  whatever 
objects  pleased  their  fancy.  It  was  somewhat  thus 
with  these  later  volumes  of  the  Palaeontology: 
When  the  book  had  been  built  the  apprentices  helped 
themselves  to  what  was  left,  suggestions  and  mate- 
rials which  beyond  doubt  in  many  cases  led  to  more 
fruitful  fields. 

This  volume  done,  Hall's  plan  for  his  Palaeon- 
tology, as  so  many  times  set  forth  to  the  legislature, 
was  completed,  even  to  the  boundaries  of  his  larg- 
est hopes.  He  had  lived  to  see  eleven  quarto 
volumes  published  under  this  title  and  he  was  still 
a  young  and  vigorous-hearted  man  of  seventy- 
seven,  alive  with  a  strong  desire  to  turn  back  once 
more  to  the  years  of  the  forties  and  revise  the  work 
of  his  youth. 

But  he  was  easily  pursuaded  into  another  path. 
Thus  far  the  work  had  been  a  fulfillment  of  a  pur- 
pose to  depict  the  fossil  faunas  of  the  New  York 
Series  of  Geological  Formations ;  now  it  was  turned 
into  more  strictly  biological  and  indeed  philosophi- 
cal channels.  His  vast  knowledge  of  that  group  of 
fossils  which  every  student  of  the  Palaeozoic  rocks 
must  know  and  know  well,  the  Brachiopoda,  was 
now  to  be  capitalized  and  projected  as  a  revision  of 


526  JAMES  HALL 

the  whole  group.  I  presume  he  was  encouraged 
and  tempted  into  this  undertaking  by  his  enthu- 
siastic assistant  who  did  not  think  it  necessary  to 
stop  and  count  the  cost  in  view!  of  his  chief's 
spectacular  success  in  meeting  such  situations  in  the 
past.  Plans  then  were  at  once  laid  for  a  revision  of 
the  Palaeozoic  genera  of  the  brachiopods,  plans 
which  required  the  assemblage  of  really  vast  mate- 
rials and  comprehensive  literature.  A  promise  in 
sight,  even  though  somewhat  vague,  of  eventual 
publication,  was  assurance  enough  to  take  Hall 
promptly  out  through  the  Middlewest  to  every  pri- 
vate and  public  collection  of  these  fossils  where  he 
borrowed,  exchanged  for,  bought  and  collected 
brachiopods  and  following  his  trail  through  the 
Mississippi  Valley  there  poured  into  the  Museum 
offices  a  steady  stream  of  carefully  selected  and 
beautiful  specimens.  This  was  in  1889,  and  it  was 
in  October  of  that  year  that  he  stopped  in  Cincinnati 
to  see  a  young  enthusiast  by  the  name  of  Charles 
Schuchert,  whose  natural  impulses  and  surround- 
ings had  cultivated  a  special  interest  in  these  fossils 
with  the  help  of  which  he  had  brought  together  an 
extensive  and  carefully  identified  collection,  un- 
doubtedly the  best  to  be  found  in  private  hands  in 
that  region.  Mr.  Schuchert  was  then  a  sort  of 
occasional  assistant  to  Edward  O.  Ulrich  of  New- 
port, Ky.,  who  was  struggling  bravely  at  his  own 
cost  to  get  a  footing  in  his  beloved  science  of 


CHARLES   SCHUCHERT  527 

palaeontology  by  printing  his  own  manuscripts  and 
illustrating  them  at  his  own  expense.  The  wonted 
fires  blazed  in  Hall's  veins  as  he  looked  through  the 
drawers  of  Mr.  Schuchert's  choice  specimens  and 
he  realized  quickly  that  it  was  Schuchert  himself  he 
wanted  as  much  as  he  did  the  fossils ;  not  the  things 
only  but  the  man  who  knew  the  things  in  all  their 
fine  differentials.  Would  Mr.  Schuchert  come  to 
Albany  as  his  personal  assistant  ?  The  State  had  no 
money  but  he  had  a  little,  not  very  much ;  of  course 
Schuchert  was  to  bring  his  brachiopods  and  let  us 
have  the  use  of  them  and  of  his  knowledge  of  them. 
The  bargain  was  struck  right  there,  Mr.  Schuchert 
agreed  and  was  in  Albany  within  a  month  (Novem- 
ber, 1889).  It  was  indeed  a  bargain,  for  while  Mr. 
Schuchert  was  not  engaged  to  take  part  in  the  prep- 
aration of  the  volumes  in  hand,  he  had  vast  capac- 
ity for  work  and  was  quickly  rendering  important 
service  to  Hall  in  the  arrangement  of  his  private 
collections,  once  more  grown  to  great  magnitude, 
and  of  his  library  whose  integrity  had  never  been 
impaired  from  the  commencement  of  his  life's  work. 
Mr.  Schuchert  succeeded,  in  private  capacity,  to  the 
position  in  the  historic  laboratory  where  a  long  line 
of  geologists  had  preceded  him  and  he  was  the  last 
of  that  line.  Many  times  he  was  sent  out  among 
the  collectors  of  his  region  looking  for  more 
brachiopods  for  the  Palaeontology  or  more  fossils 
for  Hall's  collections,  meanwhile  working  by  him- 


528  JAMES  HALL 

self  on  a  catalogue  of  the  American  species  of  the 
brachiopods  which  Hall  was  to  have  printed  some- 
time but  never  did.  To  the  writer  Mr.  Schuchert's 
stay  in  Albany  for  thirty  months  was  one  of  inti- 
mate and  inspiring  association  and  his  departure  in 
1891  took  away  the  only  sympathetic  soul  there  was 
in  the  place.  Schuchert  went  to  Minneapolis  to  join 
Newton  H.  Winchell,  then  State  Geologist,  in  the 
preparation  of  his  final  reports,  especially  one  on 
the  Brachiopoda,  of  which  he  was  author,  while 
Winchell  shared  the  credit.  So  thoroughly  was  his 
work  at  Albany  appreciated  that  he  was  permitted 
to  use  for  his  Minnesota  work  the  manuscripts,  so 
far  as  they  were  needed,  of  our  first  volume  then  on 
the  press.8 

But  while  this  protracted  and  exacting  series  of 
studies  of  the  Brachiopoda  were  quietly  going  on  in 
one  end  of  the  State  Hall  offices,  and  these  wonder- 
ful shells  were  being  ground  and  sliced  and  carved 
to  bring  out  their  intricate  internal  apparatus,  on 
which,  in  the  larger  of  the  divisions,  the  generic  dis- 
tinctions were  founded,  and  while  all  sorts  of  me- 
chanical devices  were  contrived  to  elicit  and  depict 
details  of  extreme  delicacy  and  significance,  de- 
scriptions and  .essays  on  classification  being  written, 
draftsmen  and  lithographers  kept  supplied  with 

8  Mr.  Schuchert's  subsequent  career ,  his  steady  climb  upward 
in  his  science  till  he  reached  the  Professorship  in  Yale  University 
in  succession  to  the  brilliant  Charles  E.  Beecher,  are  matters  of  con- 
temporary achievement. 


PERPLEXITY  529 

necessary  materials ;  there  was  tumult  and  disorder 
at  the  other  end  of  the  building  and  it  seemed  at 
times  as  if  Hall,  growing  more  sensitive  as  he  grew 
older,  deliberately  went  out  to  seek  for  trouble  if 
matters  were  too  quiet  for  him.  Even  without  his 
belligerent  and  peppery  attitude  toward  a  respon- 
sible legislative  supervision  of  his  work,  a  red  flag 
was  now  waved  in  his  eyes  by  what  was  construed 
by  him  as  an  incomprehensible  persecution  from  his 
own  governing  board.  There  had  come  to  Albany 
as  the  executive  secretary  of  this  board  and  succes- 
sor to  the  ripe  and  wise  David  Murray,  an  up-to- 
date  "  efficiency  man,"  with  razor-like  wits,  a  card- 
catalogue  scheme  and  a  ceaseless  restlessness  which, 
whether  for  good  or  evil,  drives  fast  and  hard  to- 
ward distraction.  On  this  almost  octogenarian 
savant  there  was  turned  a  barrage  of  unfamiliar 
attack.  The  hours  of  daily  work  must  be  ac- 
counted for,  progress  must  be  shown,  financial 
responsibility  must  be  surrendered,  contracts  re- 
vised and  overturned;  in  other  words  the  Palaeon- 
tology of  New  York  was  to  be  put  on  a  business 
basis.  It  could  not  be ;  it  never  had  been  and  never 
should  be;  and  indeed  would  never  have  been  pro- 
posed had  there  been  behind  this  procedure  any 
understanding  of  what  science  means  or  how  scien- 
tific research  is  done.  How  often  was  I  snatched 
from  the  spirals  of  a  new  and  wonderful  brachio- 
pod  to  rush  off  to  interview,  on  behalf  of  my  chief 

34 


530  JAMES  HALL 

in  his  distress,  Martin  I.  Townsend  or  Hamilton 
Harris  or  Andrew  S.  Draper,  Regents  of  the  Uni- 
versity, and  get  their  comment  on  some  new 
explosion.  Soon  fires  which  had  smouldered  so 
threateningly  broke  out  in  open  blaze  to  fill 
the  local  newspapers  with  thrust  and  parry  and 
counterthrust.  The  rapid-fire  secretary  overshot 
his  mark  and  created  a  situation  which  the  Legisla- 
ture of  the  State  could  not  fail  to  take  notice  of. 
Hall's  friends  in  the  Senate  demanded  an  investi- 
gation of  the  Regents'  administration  of  these  scien- 
tific affairs  and  a  committee  of  wise  Senators  em- 
bued  with  the  utmost  good  nature  and  patience, 
entered  upon  an  inquiry  into  the  historical  and 
actual  administration  of  these  matters,  hoping  for 
and  seeking  peace,  disproving  and  dismissing  the 
hot-headed  charges  of  malversation  against  Hall, 
and  recommending  in  their  report  modifications  of 
supervision  which  led  easily  to  the  event  of  1893. 
The  event  of  1893  was  the  passage  of  a  law  which 
empowered  the  Governor  to  reappoint  Hall,  State 
Geologist  and  Palaeontologist  for  life,  with  full  and 
independent  management  of  his  appropriations  and 
his  scientific  business.  In  spite  of  all  protests  from 
the  Regents,  Governor  Flower  recommissioned  Hall 
with  the  same  title  that,  and  a  greater  authority  than 
he  had  received  with  his  appointment  from  Governor 
Marcy  in  1837,  fifty-six  years  before.  It  was  an 
unprecedented  occurrence  and  brought  to  Hall  tern- 


PER  ARDUA    LIBERTAS  531 

pestuous  congratulations,  not  only  from  a  multitude 
of  scientific  friends  throughout  the  land,  but  a 
shower  of  plaudits  from  those  nearer  home  who  had 
watched  the  undignified  attacks  upon  him  with  en- 
tire disapproval.  It  was  in  vain  that  in  succeeding 
years  the  Regents'  Secretary  tried  to  secure  a  repeal 
of  the  -enactment.  It  remained  in  force  throughout 
the  remainder  of  Hall's  life  and  in  his  joy  over  his 
release  from  captivity  Hall  presented  to  his  friend 
the  Honorable  Danforth  E.  Ainsworth,  Speaker  of 
the  Assembly,  a  gold  medal  commemorative  of  the 
service  rendered.  It  was  all  done  without  politics ; 
a  Republican  Speaker  prepared  the  way  for  action 
by  a  Democratic  Governor. 

The  whole  procedure  had  been  a  horrid  phantas- 
magoria, a  weird  atmosphere  indeed  in  which  to 
render  one's  devotions  to  science,  and  I  dare  not  say 
if,  in  the  bewilderments  of  those  days,  some  brach- 
iopod  genus  did  not  get  a  few  more  whorls  on  its 
brachial  supports  than  it  was  entitled  to.  Out  of  the 
smoke  of  battle  the  victor  emerged,  the  Governor's 
commission  under  his  arm,  with  elastic  step  and 
heightened  vigor.  The  powers  of  darkness  had 
been  dispelled  and  in  the  vicissitudes  of  a  scientific 
career,  virtue  had  won.  The  remnant  of  the  scien- 
tific organization  under  the  Regents  was  now  a 
feeble  thing,  hopelessly  wounded  and  Hall  had  al- 
ready withdrawn  from  association  with  it  by  retir- 
ing from  its  directorship.  But  a  deeper  blow 


532  JAMES  PI  ALL 

than  we  thought  had  been  dealt,  and  soon  there 
appeared  in  far  off  Paris,  in  the  columns  of 
Le  Temps,  a  "  news  "  item  under  conspicuous  head- 
lines, declaring  that  James  Hall,  a  noted  Ameri- 
can savant,  had  been  convicted  of  stealing  scientific 
property  belonging  to  the  State  and  was  now  incar- 
cerated. This  hideous  thing,  copied  freely  by  Con- 
tinental papers,  was  a  blow  that  seemed  to  be  aimed 
at  the  aged  man  where  his  pride  was  tenderest, 
for  he  ever  looked  to  France  as  the  country  where 
his  labors  were  best  known  and  appreciated.  To  me 
this  scandalous  tale  called  for  bitter  and  quick  re- 
sentment, for  indeed  the  story  carried  the  additional 
statement  that  Hall  had  been  in  the  way  of  receiv- 
ing pots-de-mn  from  his  assistants.  Strangely 
enough,  while  I  hurried  to  get  from  the  Chancellor 
of  the  Board  of  Regents,  Anson  J.  Upson,  a  signed 
and  forcible  denunciation  of  this  baseless  libel  and 
transmitted  it  with  full  denials  to  the  offending 
sheet,  Hall  seemed  to  take  it  all  stolidly  and  even,  I 
thought,  to  carry  an  inscrutable  smile  over  the 
French  picture  of  himself  in  a  felon's  cell.  With 
usual  journalistic  ethics  the  Paris  editor  printed 
the  Chancellor's  letter  and  my  own,  adding  thereto 
the  remark  that  his  information  had  been  obtained 
from  a  reliable  source  —  the  Kolnische  Zeitung,  as 
it  turned  out  to  be !  Presently  the  New  York  State 
Legislature,  taking  official  notice  of  this  affront, 
passed  a  concurrent  resolution  expressing  in  chosen 


PHOENIX  533 

superlatives  their  entire  confidence  in  the  victim  of 
this  attack  and  transmitted  it  to  Hall  beautifully  en- 
grossed. Then  the  French  savants  became  active. 
First  came  the  Societe  Geologique  du  Nord  with  an 
address  of  regret  and  confidence,  signed  by  all  its 
officers.  "  My  compatriots,"  wrote  Barrois,  "  are 
furious  at  the  calumny;  you  have  now  united  the 
palms  of  martyrdom  with  those  of  victory.  No 
geologist  has  accomplished  more  than  yourself  in 
this  century  for  your  science  and  for  your  coun- 
try." Daniel-Pauline  Oehlert,9  of  Laval,  declares 
"  as  the  spokesman  of  the  Geologists  and  Palaeon- 
tologists of  France,"  that  the  odious  attack  has  in 
nowise  "  lessened  our  reverence  for  your  high  scien- 
tific work  and  your  life  which  has  been  devoted  to 
the  service  of  science."  Then  came  a  formal  ad- 
dress from  the  Societe  Geologique  de  France,  which 
was  soon  after  followed  by  the  extraordinary  honor 
of  Hall's  election  to  the  Vice-presidency  of  that 
Society.  Thus,  it  seemed,  the  stage  was  uncon- 
sciously but  most  effectively  set  for  the  final 
triumphal  act  which  was  presently  to  follow,  and  I 
have  often  thought  of  that  prescient  smile  hidden 
away  in  Hall's  snowy  whiskers  when  the  French 
villification  fell  upon  him. 

Meanwhile  out  of  all  this  smudge  came  the  final 
two  volumes  of  the  "  Palaeontology  of  New  York  " 
on  the  Genera  of  the  ancient  Brachiopods,  soon  to  be 

•Died  September,  1920. 


534  JAMES  HALL 

followed  by  plaudits  and  gracious  approval,  which  I 
am  sure  sunk  deeper  into  the  consciousness  of  the 
junior  worker  than  in  the  more  toughened  sensi- 
bilities of  the  senior. 

Barrois  writes :  "  It  is  the  best  and  most  com- 
plete [work]  ever  written  on  invertebrate  fossils." 
"  You  have  made  so  much  progress  in  this  branch 
that  the  study  of  the  Palaeozoic  Brachiopoda  has 
become  altogether  a  new  field." 

H.  B.  Geinitz  of  Dresden  writes:  "You  have 
now  brought  your  splendid  work  to  a  close  in  the 
most  magnificent  manner." 

Lesley  wrote  in  1892 :  "  I  have  been  reading  this 
evening  the  prolegomena  of  your  beautiful  Vol. 
VIII,  part  1,  for  which  let  me  thank  you  with  all  my 
heart." 

The  books  have  indeed  served  well  and  have 
played  the  part  of  parent  to  much  suggestive  work 
in  the  same  field,  like  that  of  Beecher  and  of  Schu- 
chert.  It  is  the  fate  of  comprehensive  undertakings 
of  this  sort  that  they  are  soon  absorbed  as  funda- 
mental knowledge  and  the  personal  responsibility  of 
authorship  is  lost  sight  of.  The  author  has  ceased 
to  be  an  individual  and  become  an  institution  upon 
whose  foundations  others  build. 

Having  gone  so  far  in  research  amongst  the 
Brachiopods  of  the  Palaeozoic  rocks,  it  seemed  an 
opportune  occasion  for  the  State  of  New  York  to 
openly  declare  that  its  scientific  functions  are  not 


LATER    GEOLOGY  535 

restricted  to  State  boundaries,  and  so  there  soon  ap- 
peared a  "  Handbook  of  the  Genera  of  the  Brachio- 
poda,"  in  two  smaller  volumes,  into  which  were 
covered  all  genera  of  the  entire  group,  fossil  and 
living.  This  was  profusely  illustrated  and  consti- 
tuted the  only  attempt  ever  made  under  Hall's 
regime  to  cover  even  on  broad  lines  an  entire  bio- 
logical unit.  Though  the  "  Palaeontology,"  as  such, 
was  closed  and  done  with,  these  volumes  were  like 
an  echo  from  the  last  tones  of  its  great  bell. 

The  Later  Geology.  Until  he  had  become  in- 
volved in  the  production  of  the  State  Map,  which 
was  finally  published  in  1894,  Hall  had  persistently 
put  aside  more  strictly  geological  pursuits.  He  had 
no  time  for  them  and  was  frankly  annoyed  when 
they  were  too  closely  pressed  on  his  attention.  His 
own  knowledge  was  abundantly  sufficient  to  meet 
all  demands  that  came  to  him  in  the  course  of  his 
official  business  and  he  was  uneasy  over  opening 
new  leads  in  this  field  as  he  seemed  to  know  to 
what  expenditures  of  care  and  money  they  might 
tend.  The  building  of  the  map  however  had  made  a 
start  necessary  in  several  directions  and  now  he  be- 
gan to  feel  the  need  of  adjutant  help  in  seeing  such 
projects  through.  In  1891,  D.  Dana  Luther,  a  mil- 
ler, who  had  quietly  pursued  his  business  with 
the  study  of  the  geology  of  his  home  town 
of  Naples,  N.  Y.,  was  engaged  to  keep  the  geo- 
logical records  of  the  salt  mine  which  was  being 


536  JAMES  HALL 

put  down  through  the  Devonian  and  Silurian  rocks 
at  Livonia,  in  western  New  York,  and  with  this 
successfully  done  and  an  inch-by-inch  log  made  of 
the  rocks  and  faunas,  he  gradually  and  cautiously 
widened  his  field  of  labor  among  the  palaeozoic 
rocks  until  at  his  retirement  from  active  service 
twenty-five  years  later,  he  had  surveyed  and  accur- 
ately charted  for  the  great  geological  map  of  the 
State,  a  larger  area  than  has  been  covered  by  any 
other  man.  It  was  in  1893  that  Professor  James  F. 
Kemp,  of  Columbia  University,  proposed  concerted 
work  with  C.  H.  Smyth,  Jr.,  of  Hamilton  College 
(now  of  Princeton  University),  and  Henry  P. 
Cushing,  of  the  Western  Reserve  University,  Cleve- 
land, upon  the  complex  problems  of  the  Adirondack 
crystallines  —  a  most  involved  field  and  one  ex- 
acting the  best  training  and  ability  in  petrological 
geology.  Again  and  again  it  had  resisted  the  de- 
sultory efforts  of  one  and  another  geologist  and  the 
various  attempts  to  express  its  structures  in  terms 
of  probability  or  of  correspondence  with  the  infer- 
ences of  the  Canadian  geologists  from  their  greater 
expanse  of  these  most  ancient  and  disordered  rocks. 
This  proposal  afforded  Professor  Hall  very  great 
satisfaction  for.  he  knew,  without  power  to  solve, 
the  mystery  of  this  mountain  area  where  he  had 
done  his  first  official  work,  and  he  hej.d  out  to  Pro- 
fessor Kemp  and  his  colleagues  all  the  encourage- 
ment he  had  at  his  command.  From  this  beginning 


Standing   in    front   of   his   house,    1895 


THE  SURVEY  REVIVED  537 

the  Adirondack  work  has  gone  on  to  most  satisfac- 
tory results,  Professors  Kemp  and  Gushing  still 
actively  interested  in  the  field  and  the  latter  having 
published  a  comprehensive  Geology  of  the  Adiron- 
dacks,  while  competent  younger  men  have  come  in 
to  carry  the  investigations  forward.10 

It  was  in  1891,  that  Edward  Orton,  of  Columbus, 
long  eminent  for  his  educational  and  geological  ser- 
vice in  Ohio  and  then  deeply  concerned  with  the  new 
problems  of  petroleum  and  natural  gas,  entered 
upon  a  survey  of  the  oil  and  gas  fields  of  New  York, 
his  native  State.  Hemiplegic  and  lame  as  he  was, 
he  took  the  field  with  an  unabated  enthusiasm  and 
kept  at  his  important  work  for  several  years.  Thus 
with  geological  work  progressing  both  in  the  crys- 
talline and  the  sedimentary  rock  regions  of  the 
State,  the  organization  had  once  more  resumed  its 
proper  title  of  the  Geological  Survey  of  New  York, 
a  title  never  lost  from  the  days  of  1836,  though  sub- 
merged for  many  decades.  And  the  reports  coming 
in  from  many  workers11  created  colossal  volumes 
for  the  official  annual  reports  of  the  State  Geologist. 

10  Since  this  was  written,  Professor  Gushing,  after  twenty-eight 
years  association  with  the  difficult  Adirondack  problems,  has  passed 
away. 

11  Among  the  geologists  of  these  years  in  the  New  York  field  are 
the  names  of  Irving  P.  Bishop,  E.  R.  Cumings,  Henry  P.  Gushing, 
Nelson  H.  Darton,  William  B.  Dwight,  James  F.  Kemp,  D.  Dana 
Luther,  Edward  Orton,  Charles  S.  Prosser,  Heinrich  Ries,  Clifton  J. 
Sarle,  John  C.  Smock,  C.  H.  Smyth,  Jr. 


538  JAMES  HALL 

International  Congress. 

The  meeting  of  the  International  Geological  Con- 
gress at  Washington  in  the  late  summer  of  1891, 
the  only  time  it  has  come  together  in  the  United 
States,  brought  a  large  number  of  distinguished 
geologists  together,  many  of  whom  came  to  pay 
their  respects  to  Hall  in  advance  of  the  meeting. 
Hall  was  not  very  well  at  the  time,  so  he  fled  the 
town  at  their  appearance  and  left  it  to  me  to  provide 
such  entertainment  as  could  be  afforded.  Kayser  of 
Marburg,  Schmidt  of  Basle,  Freeh  of  Breslau  and 
Friedrich  Schmidt  of  St.  Petersburg,  came  on  to- 
gether and  with  them  came  the  rains,  but  into  the 
Helderbergs  we  went  trying  to  get  and  give  some 
idea  of  their  structure  and  contents,  though  it  was 
pretty  dreary  business  through  this  land  of  evil 
country  hotels  (as  it  was  then)  and  the  guests  soon 
went  their  ways  into  the  west.  Hall  came  back  as 
soon  as  they  were  gone  and  Friedrich  Schmidt,  fine 
and  vigorous  old  Russian  and  academician,  got  no 
further  than  Utica,  when  he  turned  back  too,  his 
Russian  thirst  unslaked,  and  determined  to  test  the 
merits  of  those  spirits  in  the  cellar  of  Hall's  work- 
shop of  which  he  seemed  to  have  instinctive  knowl- 
edge. 

So  he  stayed  and  mellowed  awhile  letting  his  col- 
leagues go  on,  while  he  poured  out  the  vials  of  his 
great  knowledge  and  enthusiasm  to  the  inspiration 
of  us  all.  When  the  meetings  convened  Professor 


HONOR  AT   WASHINGTON 


539 


Hall  was  among  its  honorary  presidents,  and  while 
he  did  not  take  any  active  part  in  them  he  was  made 
conscious  of  the  regard  in  which  he  was  held  by  his 
colleagues  from  all  the  world  by  the  presentation  of 
an  engraved  salutation : 

To  the  Xestor  of  American  Geologists,  an  original  mem- 
ber and  moving  spirit  of  the  Comite  Fondateur  of  the 
International  Congress 

PROFESSOR  JAMES  HALL, 
Whose  presence  is  an  honor  and  an  inspiration 

The  members  of  the 

Fifth  International  Congress  of  Geologists 

Assembled  at  Washington,  A.  D.,  1891 

Give  special  greeting. 

To  this  was  attached  a  distinguished  group  of 
signatories,  men  honored,  if  now  living,  venerated 
if  gone.  Among  them  were 


Barrois 

Gaudry 

Rothpletz 

Marcellin  Boule 

McKenny   Hughes 

Rathbun 

Branner 

Harker 

Reusch 

Whitman  Cross 

W.  H.  Holmes 

F.  Schmidt 

W.  B.  Clark 

Hoist 

Tschernyschew 

T.  C.  Chamberlin 

Jaekel 

Stefanescu 

F.  W.  Clarke 

E.  Kayser 

Streng 

Credner 

Lundholm 

Stainier 

del  Costillo 

M.  Lohest 

C.  Schmidt 

DeGeer 

de  Margerie 

C.  A.  White 

Fairchild 

McGee 

Walcott 

Freeh 

O.  C.  Marsh 

Wahnschaffe 

Theo.  Gill 

Powell 

L.  F.  Ward 

Gilbert 

Pumpelly 

von  Zittel 

Henry  Gannett 

540  JAMES  HALL 

Honors  at  His  60th  Official  Anniversary. 

Mrs.  Hall,  whose  interest  in  her  husband's  work, 
so  strong  in  the  early  years  of  their  long  mar- 
ried life,  had  long  since  given  way  to  religious  de- 
votions, died  in  1896.  Their  eldest  daughter,  Jo- 
sephine, of  whose  personal  beauty  and  attractivenes 
stories  are  still  told  in  Albany,  had  married  Thomas 
B.  Bishop,  a  graduate  of  the  Albany  Law  School, 
and  they  had  settled  in  San  Francisco,  where  Mr. 
Bishop  had  achieved  distinction  and  wealth.  Re- 
turning from  Albany  after  her  mother's  funeral 
Mrs.  Bishop  took  her  father  back  with  her  to  San 
Francisco  and  it  was  during  this  absence  that  Mr. 
Hall's  friends  in  the  east,  led  by  W.  J.  McGee,  ar- 
ranged a  celebration  of  the  sixtieth  anniversary  of 
his  appointment  to  the  geological  service  of  New 
York,  to  take  place  on  the  occasion  of  a  joint  meet- 
ing of  the  American  Association  for  the  Advance- 
ment of  Science  and  the  Geological  Society  of 
America,  at  Buffalo,  to  be  held  in  August. 

Hall  was  enjoying  himself  on  the  Pacific  Coast 
with  his  four  strapping  Bishop  grandsons,  with 
visits  from  Branner  of  Stanford  University  and 
with  the  rest  which  so  complete  a  change  could  give. 
It  was  something  of  a  risk  for  him  to  come  across 
the  desert  in  August,  but  he  generously  took  the 
risk  at  the  solicitation  of  his  friends  and  came  back 
over  the  long  journey,  turning  up  in  Buffalo  on  a 


SIXTIETH  ANNIVERSARY          541 

broiling  August  26th,  the  coolest  and  most  serene 
among  all  the  large  assemblage  which  had  gathered 
in  his  honor.  The  occasion  was  effective  and  ex- 
pressive. Professor  Benjamin  K.  Emerson,  the 
vice-president  for  the  Geology  Section  of  the  Asso- 
ciation, opened  the  ceremony  with  a  graceful  tribute 
and  introduced  the  distinguished  Joseph  Le  Conte, 
of  the  University  of  California,  then  president  of 
the  Geological  Society  of  America,  who  rendered 
homage  in  impressive  phrases : 

"  Sixty  years  of  unremitting  labor,  of  unswerving  pur- 
pose directed  toward  one  end  and  that  the  noblest !  Is  not 
that  the  definition  of  a  great  work;  more  of  a  great  life; 
still  more  of  a  great  man  ?  *  *  Surely  in  an  important  sense 
he  may  be  called  the  Founder  of  American  geology.  *  * 
He  alone  not  only  laid  a  foundation  as  others  helped  to  do, 
but  has  continued  for  sixty  years  to  build  thereon  a  solid 
and  beautiful  edifice."  *  * 

"  I  have  spoken  thus  far  of  Hall  the  geologist ;  now  a 
single  word,  in  conclusion,  of  Hall  .the  man.  Greater  than 
all  the  results  of  science  is  the  true  spirit  of  science  which 
accomplishes  these  results.  So,  greater  than  all  Hall's 
work,  great  as  this  is  acknowledged  to  be,  is  the  character 
of  the  man,  and  the  man  himself.  Hall  is  an  example  to 
us  all  in  his  unswerving,  incorruptible,  self-sacrificing 
devotion  to  pure  science  for  its  own  sake.  In  this  age  of 
profitable  science,  and  even  often  of  science  for  profit,  we 
can  not  too  highly  value  such  an  example.  But  if  the  man 
determines  the  character  of  the  work,  the  work  also  reacts 
to  determine  the  character  of  the  man.  A  great  man  is 
necessary  for  a  great  work,  but  a  great  work  continued 


542  JAMES  HALL 

through  life  reacts  to  ennoble  and  elevate  the  man,  and  even 
illumines  the  face  with  a  higher  intellectual  and  moral 
beauty.  As  Dante,  while  gazing  steadily  on  ideal  beauty  in 
the  face  of  the  divine  Beatrice,  is  drawn  upward  to  the 
seventh  heaven,  even  so  the  man  of  science,  gazing  steadily 
on  the  face  of  Truth,  is  drawn  upward  to  higher  and  higher 
planes  of  intellectual  and  moral  elevation." 

Others  followed  with  essays  on  various  features 
of  Hall's  work:  Mr.  McGee,  Mr.  Clarke,  Professor 
Stevenson,  George  M.  Dawson,  T.  Guilford  Smith 
of  the  Board  of  Regents,  who  liked  to  stand  in  the 
shadow  of  Hall's  name,  but  whom  the  venerable 
Professor  thought  it  "  not  prudent  to  encourage  " 
on  this  occasion.  To  all  these  tributes  Hall  re- 
sponded modestly  and  deprecatingly,  but  the  defer- 
ence shown  him  struck  a  ringing  cord  of  memory 
and  he  spent  the  evening  of  this  day  in  the  hotel  tell- 
ing me  stories  of  his  early  years,  most  of  which  are 
incorporated  in  this  narrative. 

Journey  to  Russia  and  the  Seventh  International 
Congress  of  Geologists,  1897. 

Old  Russia,  High  Patroness  of  Science  and  of 
intellectual  fecundity,  brilliant  as  ice  in  the  culture 
of  her  Academic  circles,  had  extended  her  invitation 
to  the  geologists  of  all  the  world  for  a  meeting  at  St. 
Petersburg  in  the  summer  of  1897.  The  lure  was 
strong  to  every  devotee  of  the  science  but  it  seemed 
to  come  to  Hall  as  though  he  were  an  aspiring 


TRIP    TO   RUSSIA  543 

acolyte  rather  than,  at  86,  its  most  venerable  and 
probably  most  distinguished  living  exponent.  He 
looked  rightfully  upon  the  Congress  as  in  some  good 
measure  his  child  but  it  is  quite  certain  he  would 
hardly  have  seriously  ventured  upon  this  distant 
journey  toward  "  the  mists  which  brood  upon  the 
northern  fjords  "  had  it  not  been  for  the  insistence 
of  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Bishop,  who  promised  to  ac- 
company and  take  care  of  him.  There  was  much 
that  was  brave  and  some  that  was  humorous  in  his 
final  determination  to  go.  He  had  been  "  a  dying 
man  for  fifty  years,"  quoth  his  physician.  To  those 
working  with  him  it  seemed  that  he  found  some 
physical  ailment  "  new  every  morning  and  fresh 
every  evening,"  but  now  having  gone  to  Dr.  Hun 
he  reported  to  me  with  pride  that  in  him  no  organic 
impairment  of  any  kind  had  been  found  and  his 
physician  advised  him  to  go.  This  distant  cruise 
was  his  triumphal  progress,  his  apotheosis.  Every- 
where among  the  circles  of  geologists  on  the  long 
route  thither  and  back  he  was  royally  acclaimed  by 
ancient  colleagues,  of  whom  alas !  but  few  were  left ; 
by  the  younger  admirers  and  by  the  novitiate  of  the 
science  who  must  have  regarded  him  as  a  priest 
after  the  order  of  Melchisedek,  without  beginning 
or  end.  But  he  had  not  gone  simply  to  be  gazed 
upon  as  a  Greek  urn  or  a  fait  accompli.  Hall  still 
belonged  to  the  living  present  and  from  his  port  of 
Hamburg  he  made  his  way  straight  to  Stockholm, 


544  JAMES  HALL 

spent  a  day  with  Lindstrom  amongst  his  fossil  cor- 
als, and  thence  under  the  guidance  of  Holm  ex- 
plored the  classic  rock  section  of  Kinnekulle  where 
Linne  had  labored  a  century  before,  had  dinner  in 
a  grotto  in  the  Orthoceratite  limestone,  the  next  day 
explored  a  section  extending  from  the  granite  up- 
ward to  the  Reteolite-shale ;  and  then  under  the 
guidance  of  Dr.  Mundte  went  over  to  the  island  of 
Gotland  and  its  rocks.  It  was  natural  that  he 
should  write  to  me,  after  the  visit :  "  Could  we  have 
had  a  complete  knowledge  of  these  sections  when 
we  began  or  even  when  we  ended  our  first  four 
years  of  work  in  New  York,  it  would  have  greatly 
facilitated  our  proper  interpretation  of  the  older 
rocks  in  America ;  "  perhaps  forgetting  in  writing 
this,  that  the  same  fifty  years  which  had  clarified 
the  rock  succession  in  New  York,  had  done  the  same 
for  Sweden. 

When,  at  St.  Petersburg,  the  sessions  of  the  Con- 
gress began  at  intervals  in  the  brilliant  round  of 
entertainment,  Hall,  an  ancien  president,  high  on 
rostrum  and  dais,  was  the  star  in  that  Ursa  Major, 
the  cynosure,  which  drew  the  attention  of  all  eyes, 
easily  the  most  striking  figure  there  and  the  unfail- 
ing pride  of  his  countrymen  who  had  gathered  there 
in  no  small  number.  The  meetings  over,  he  went  to 
Moscow,  and  from  there,  abandoning  a  proposed 
journey  to  the  Caucasus,  he  traveled  to  Vladikavkaz 
and  on  horseback  across  the  mountains  to  Tiflis, 


ALBERT   GAUDRY  545 

thence  to  Batum  and  by  Russian  steamer  to  Odessa 
and  Sebastopol.  Fourteen  days  brought  him  by  an 
Italian  steamer  to  Naples  with  two  days  in  Con- 
stantinople. From  there  his  family  party  moved 
leisurely  by  Rome,  Florence  to  Paris,  Southampton 
and  home.  While  in  France,  Barrois  had  arranged 
a  special  meeting  at  Lille  of  the  Societe  Geologique 
du  Nord  at  which  Hall  was  to  preside  and  the  Paris 
friends  had  hoped  to  give  him  a  reception  at  the 
Academic  des  Sciences,  but  he  missed  the  latter,  and 
Gaudry  writes  to  him : 

Museum  November  6,  1897. 

of  Natural  History  Clugny,  Versailles. 

Palaeontology 

Dear  Master: 

I  think  that  my  letter  addressed  to  the  Hotel  Foyot  has 
already  reached  you.  I  regret  that  you  did  not  come  to 
the  sitting  of  the  Academy  last  Monday.  M.  Bertrand, 
De  Lapparent  and  myself  expected  you;  we  would  have 
been  happy  to  behold  among  us  an  illustrious  correspondent 
of  the  Institute,  one  who  has  accomplished  so  much  for 
Geology  and  Palaeontology. 

Madame  Albert  Gaudry  and  myself  would  have  been 
proud  and  happy  to  have  you  in  the  country,  with  Madame 
your  daughter  and  her  children.  But  we  feared  to  commit 
an  indiscretion  in  asking  you  to  come  when  the  weather 
was  so  cold,  and  in  monopolizing  a  few  of  the  brief 
moments  of  your  stay  in  Paris.  We  hope  that  your  health, 
so  precious  to  science,  has  not  suffered  from  all  the  fatigues 
of  your  great  journey;  you  have  given  to  all  an  example  of 
devotion  to  Geology.  It  will  be  a  great  happiness  to  us  to 

35 


546  JAMES  HALL 

see  you  back  in  Paris  in  1900,  at  the  Exposition  Universelle. 
My  wife  prays  you  to  remember  her  to  Madame  your 
daughter. 

Please,  dear  Master,  accept  the  assurances  of  my  most 
respectful  attachment. 

ALBERT  GAUDRY 

The  Story  Draws  to  its  Close. 

Mr.  Hall  came  back  from  his  grand  tour  in  excel- 
lent physical  condition  and  spirits.  Even  his 
younger  companions  were  tired  by  the  strenuous 
efforts  required  to  keep  pace  with  the  royal  hospital- 
ity of  their  reception  in  Russia.  But  he  had  with- 
stood them  all  and  for  the  winter  of  1897-8  he  lived 
upon  the  memories  of  his  tour,  the  acknowledg- 
ments and  the  salutations  which  had  thronged  upon 
him,  and  in  fulfillment  of  promises  he  had  given  to 
one  and  another  for  materials  and  books.  Yet,  as 
the  months  went  on,  it  became  quite  obvious  to  those 
about  him,  now  that  his  daughter  had  gone  back  to 
her  distant  home  and  he  was  once  more  quite  alone 
in  the  world  with  no  one  near  who  belonged  to  him 
to  break  the  solitudes  of  his  life,  that  he  was  him- 
self seeing  the  end  of  his  career.  He  was  nearing 
his  87th  birthday,  he  could  not  in  reason  look  for 
much  more  time  to  work  or  more  work  to  do.  He 
knew  that  his  apotheosis  had  come  to  him  while  liv- 
ing. So  he  quietly  awaited  his  end,  seeing  it  not 
afar  off,  but  viewing  its  approach  with  complacency 
and  with  such  diversions  as  his  fossils  and  his  cor- 


DAVID  MURRAY  547 

respondence  could  afford.  Even  into  July  of  1898 
he  was  sending  corals  to  Lindstrom  in  Stockholm 
and  carrying  on  a  correspondence  with  Professor 
Samuel  Calvin  of  Iowa  over  the  same  subject.  Lind- 
strom wrote  to  him  (July  27)  acknowledging  his 
favors  and  added :  "  You  have  behind  you  a  long 
and  honorable  lifetime  of  more  than  fifty  years  of 
scientific  labours  and  how  many  are  there  who  can 
say  as  much?  Your  Palaeontology  of  New  York 
will  be  consulted  for  ages  to  come  by  many  genera- 
tions of  Palaeontologists,  American  and  Euro- 
pean." 

And  among  his  last  letters  came  one  from  his 
friend  of  many  years,  Dr.  David  Murray,  a  former 
secretary  of  the  Board  of  Regents,  against  whose 
successor  in  office  Hall  had  waged  such  hard  battle : 
"  I  think  with  profound  admiration  of  the  patient 
life  of  investigation  and  study  you  have  spent.  I 
have  often  said  that  I  regard  you  as  the  most 
learned  man  I  have  known." 

It  was  a  pathetic  life  he  was  now  leading  in  his 
absolute  solitude,  his  two  sons  estranged,  his  two 
daughters,  one  distraught  and  one  far  off;  minis- 
tered to  about  his  home  on  the  Beaverkill  by  none 
too  loyal  hands;  nothing  was  left  to  him  but  his 
fossils,  his  books,  his  memories,  his  real  and  his 
fancied  troubles. 

Often  to  escape  the  summer's  heats,  Hall  had  been 
in  the  way  of  going  for  short  visits  to  familiar  spots 


548  JAMES  HALL 

not  far  away,  to  Schoharie  or  into  the  Helderbergs 
or  to  the  coast  of  Massachusetts.  Once  or  twice  he 
had  visited  Echo  Hill,  near  Bethlehem,  New  Hamp- 
shire, and  he  liked  the  quietude  of  the  place.  So 
thither  he  went,  not  in  the  most  vigorous  physical 
state  and  obviously  depressed  in  spirits,  taking 
along  with  him  amongst  various  proof  sheets  and 
manuscripts  an  ill-conceived  and  nerve-racking 
screed  which  he  would  make  into  an  indictment 
against  a  former  assistant.  On  the  morning  of  the 
6th  of  August,  his  nurse  had  laid  upon  his  stand  a 
bowl  of  broth  and  he  promised  to  rise  and  drink  it, 
but  she  had  no  sooner  left  the  room  than  she  heard 
a  fall  on  the  floor  and  turning  back  found  the  vener- 
able savant,  the  aged  oak,  lying  dead  where  he  had 
fallen. 

Thus  he  went  alone,  quickly  and  without  pain  or 
mental  impairment.  And  thus  passed  from  life  a 
very  great  man,  not  honored  in  his  family,  not  well 
understood  in  his  own  community,  not  always  cour- 
teously entreated  and  appreciated  by  his  scientific 
contemporaries ;  but  on  the  other  hand  winning  the 
admiration  and  acclaim  of  those  great-minded 
enough  to  understand  his  inflexible  purpose  and  the 
magnitude  of  his  achievement. 

Professor  Hall's  body  was  brought  to  Albany  by 
his  faithful  secretary,  Jacob  Van  Deloo,  who  went 
at  once  to  Echo  Hill,  and  his  funeral  added  one  more 
pitiful  touch  to  this  earthly  career.  But  this  part 


INFLUENCE  ON  SCIENCE  549 

of  his  story  it  might  be  unseemly  to  record.  The 
aged  professor  had  so  outlived  his  generation  that 
but  a  handful  were  gathered  at  the  church  and  he 
was  borne  to  his  burial  by  a  few  who  had  been  sum- 
moned to  represent,  on  this  last  occasion,  the  science 
he  had  so  deeply  loved  and  so  long  served  among 
them:  Grove  K.  Gilbert,  Benjamin  K.  Emerson, 
William  H.  Niles,  Albert  S.  Bickmore,  Edward  O. 
Hovey. 

HALL'S  INFLUENCE  ON  SCIENCE. 
The  story  we  have  written  has  had  for  its  burden 
this  very  theme  in  its  personal  setting  and  back- 
ground. But  we  may  appropriately  sum  up  the  mat- 
ter in  epitaphic  form.  James  Hall  was  a  pioneer, 
taking  the  best  knowledge  of  his  day  for  the  founda- 
tion of  his  work.  Quickly  and  keenly  he  enlarged 
and  built  upon  it.  No  one  in  America  had  caught 
and  interpreted  the  meaning  of  the  stratigraphic 
record  as  he  did  in  his  great  volume  of  1843.  He 
was  indeed,  as  McGee  had  called  him,  the  Founder 
of  American  Stratigraphy.  And  we  are  not  using 
this  term  in  the  same  sense  as  it  is  commonly  em- 
ployed in  referring  to  the  much  earlier  work  of 
William  Smith,  to  whom  must  forever  go  the  honor 
of  establishing  identity  of  geological  chronology  by 
identity  of  fossils.  The  present  school  of  students 
of  sedimentation  which  is  disposed  to  weigh  more 
carefully  new  found  distinctions  in  lithology  re- 


550  JAMES  HALL 

gardless  of  fossils,  will  do  well  to  read  over  the  vol- 
ume referred  to  and  see  how  far  Hall  opened  the 
door  to  this  phase  of  the  modern  science.  In  pal- 
aeontology Hall  ever  kept  the  geological  side  of  the 
science  uppermost;  from  its  beginnings  on  to  near 
the  end  of  his  life,  its  purpose  was  never  philosophi- 
cal though  importantly  biological,  but  fundament- 
ally the  establishment,  through  profusion  of 
evidence,  of  the  New  York  Series  of  Geological 
Formations.  Thus  throughout  his  productive 
career  he  was  unfailingly  loyal  to  the  impulses  he 
had  acquired  from  the  days  of  1836-43,  and  the  pur- 
pose of  the  men  who  made  the  first  geological  survey 
of  the  State.  This  book  will  have  served  some  part 
of  its  purpose  if  it  reminds  the  present  and  the  com- 
ing generations  of  geologists  that  Hall  has  show- 
ered upon  them,  like  the  gold  of  Danae,  facts  and 
associations  of  facts,  conclusions  and  the  modes 
thereof  which  are  now  the  common  possession  of 
the  science,  but  for  which,  if  thoughtless  of  the 
fathers  and  founders,  they  should  send  upward 
their  recognition.  It  is  thus  that  all  scientific  details 
fit  into  the  general  framework  of  knowledge  and 
soon  cease  to  be  recognized  as  either  a  monument  to 
their  discoverer  or  their  creator.  Hall's  treatise  on 
mountain  making  was  splendidly  fortified  deduc- 
tion, lightly  eschewed  by  those  whose  theories  have 
chosen  to  take  another  course,  but  magnified  and 
still  acclaimed  by  others  v/ho  see  in  it  a  causa 


THE  HARVEST  551 

causans  amid  the  complex  forces  engaged  in  crustal 
changes. 

It  would  be  a  grave  error  to  perpetuate  Hall's 
memory  and  associate  his  work  as  limited  by  his  offi- 
cial relations  with  the  State  of  New  York.  His  in- 
fluence guided  official  geological  movements  in 
every  state  where  they  were  inaugurated  and  in 
many  his  own  hand  took  a  helmsman's  part.  His 
books  drove  many  an  enthusiastic  collector  and  bud- 
ding student  out  in  among  the  rocks  to  find  for 
themselves  the  things  he  had  depicted ;  the  influence 
he  thus  exerted  gave  creative  impulse  to  study  and 
research  which  can  in  no  way  be  estimated,  for  he 
was  in  truth  the  apostle  of  historical  geology  in 
America  without  whose  labors,  as  James  D.  Dana 
wrote  in  inscribing  to  him  a  copy  of  his  last  "  Man- 
ual of  Geology,"  "  the  geological  history  of  the 
North  American  Continent  could  not  have  been 
written."  To  those  who  have  pursued  geological 
science  after  the  mode  of  Hall's  days,  who  have  con- 
tinued to  regard  the  study  of  the  ancient  simple  lif  e< 
of  the  earth,  its  relation  to  the  seas  and  the  lands, 
its  lights  upon  the  revolutions  in  our  geography ;  the 
influence  of  the  man  and  his  work  is  still  a  living 
factor  and  must  continue  to  be,  as  his  seed  has  been 
sown  on  good  soil  and  has  produced  a  vast  harvest. 


552  JAMES  HALL 


HONORS 

1832.  Bachelor  of  Natural  Science  (B.N.S.)   Rensselaer 

School,  Troy,  N.  Y. 

1833.  M.A.     Rensselaer  School,  Troy,  N.  Y. 

1836.  Assistant  Geologist  on  the  New  York  Geological 

Survey.      Appointed    by    Governor    William    L. 
Marcy. 

1837.  Principal  Geologist  and  assigned  to  the  Fourth  Geo- 

logical District  of  the  State.    Appointed  by  Gov- 
ernor William  L.  Marcy. 

1837.     Imperial    Society   of    Mineralogy,    St.    Petersburg, 
Russia.    Actual  member. 

1842.  Honorary  M.A.    Union  College,  Schenectady,  N.  Y. 

1843.  Palaeontologist   of    New   York   in   place  of   Tim- 

othy A.   Conrad,   resigned.     Appointed  by  Gov- 
ernor William  C.  Bouck. 

1843.  Academy   of    Natural    Sciences,    Philadelphia;   cor- 

respondent. 

1844.  American      Philosophical      Society,     Philadelphia; 

member. 

1845.  Honorary  M.  A.     Princeton  College. 

1845.  Societe  Geologique  de  France;  member. 

1846.  Honorary  M.D.     University  of  Maryland. 

1848.     Geological  Society  of  London.    Elected  one  of  the 

fifty  foreign  members. 
1848.     American  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences;  fellow. 

1850.  Judge  at  the  Provincial  Exhibition,  Montreal. 

1851.  Professor  of  Mineralogy  and  Geology,  University 

of  Albany. 

1852.  New  York  Lyceum  of  Natural  History;  honorary 

member. 

1854-1876.     Professor  of  Geology,  Rensselaer  Polytechnic 
Institute. 


HONORS  553 

1755.     K.K.  Geologische  Reichsanstalt ;  member. 
1855.     State    Geologist   of    Iowa;  appointed  by  Governor 
James   Wilson   Grimes. 

1855.  Gesellschaft  fur  Natur  und  Heilkunde,   Dresden; 

member. 

1856.  Natural    History    Society    of    Montreal;  honorary 

member. 

1 856.  President,  American  Association  for  the  Advance- 
ment of  Science. 

1856.  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  St.  Louis;  corres- 

ponding member. 

1857.  Appointed  by  Act  of  Legislature  of  Wisconsin,  one 

of  the  Commissioners  to  make  a  Geological  and 
Agricultural  Survey  of  Wisconsin. 
1857.     Societe  Royale,  Liege;  corresponding  member. 

1857.  State  Historical  Society  of  Iowa;  honorary  mem- 

ber. 

1858.  Geological  Society  of  London;  awarded  the  Wol- 

laston    Medal    and    proceeds    of    the    Wollaston 
Fund. 

1859.  Societas  Csesarea  Naturae  Scrutatorum  Mosquensis; 

member. 

1859.  Chicago  Academy  of  Sciences;  corresponding  mem- 

ber. 

1860.  By  Act  of  the  Legislature  of  Wisconsin,  constituted 

and  appointed  Principal  of  the  Geological  Com- 
mission established  by  chapter  40  of  the  laws  of 

1857. 

1860.  Die  Naturhistorische  Gesellschaft,  Nuremberg; 
corresponding  member. 

1860.  Die  Natur forschende  Gesellschaft,  Basle;  corre- 
sponding member. 

1862.  Portland  Society  of  Natural  History;  honorary 
member. 


554  JAMES  HALL 

1863.    LL.D.    Hamilton  College,  Clinton,  N.  Y. 

1863.  Buffalo  Society  of  Natural  Sciences;  honorary 
member. 

1863.  Named  by  Act  of  Congress,  one  of  the  fifty  char- 
ter members  of  the  National  Academy  of  Sci- 
ences. 

1867.  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  of  Philadelphia; 
Conchological  Section;  member. 

1870.  New  Orleans  Academy  of  Science;  corresponding 
member. 

187*2.  British  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Sci- 
ence; member. 

1873.  Societe  Royale  des  Sciences,  Liege;  corresponding 
member. 

1873.  Minnesota  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences;  honorary 

member. 

1874.  Societe  Geologique  de  Belgique;  member. 

1876.     Rensselaer   Polytechnic  Institute;   professor  emeri- 
tus. 
1878.     President  of  the  Albany  Institute. 

1878.  Vice-president    of    the    International    Congress    of 

Geologists  at  Paris. 

1879.  Academia  Caesarea  Leopoldino-Carolinae  Germanics 

Naturae  Curiosorum;  member. 

1881.  Vice-president  of  the  International  Congress  of 
Geologists  at  Bologna. 

1881.  Ricordo  de  Benemerenza;  awarded  by  the  Interna- 

tional Congress  of  Geologists. 

1882.  Title  and  Decoration  of  Commander  of  the  Order 

"  Dei  Santi  Maurizio  e  Lazzaro " ;  conferred  by 
the  King  of  Italy. 

1883.  Acad.  Valdernes  del  Poggio,  Italy;  corresponding 

member. 


HONORS  555 

1884.  Walker  Quinquennial  Grand  Prize  of  $1,000 
awarded  by  the  Boston  Society  of  Natural  His- 
tory. 

1884.     LL.D.     McGill  University. 

1884.  Institut  de  France,  Acad.  des  Sciences;  correspond- 

ent. 

1885.  Vice-president    of    the    International    Congress    of 

Geologists  at  Berlin. 

1885.  Konigliche    Gesellschaft   der   Wissenschaften,    Got- 

tingen;  member. 

1886.  Natural  History  Society,  Montreal;  honorary  mem- 

ber. 

1886.  Austro-Hungarian  Geological  Society,  Budapest; 
honorary  member. 

1886.  LL.D.     Harvard  University. 

1887.  Academic  Royale  de  Belgique;  member. 

1887.  Societe  Beige  de  Geologic,  de  Paleont.  et  de  Hydro- 
logic;  honorary  member. 

1887.     Essex  Institute,  Salem,  Mass. ;  honorary  member. 

1889.  R.  Institute  Venete  di  Scienza,  Littere  e  Arti;  corre- 
sponding member. 

1889.  First    President    of    the     Geological     Society    of 

America. 

1890.  Hay  den  Medal  and  Proceeds  of  the  Fund,  awarded 

by  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  Philadel- 
phia. 

1890.  American  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Sci- 

ence; honorary  fellow  in  recognition  of  50  years 
of  membership. 

1891.  International  Congress  of  Geologists  at  Washing- 

ton; address  signed  by  all  members  present. 

1892.  Boston  Society  of  Natural  History;  honorary  mem- 

ber. 


556  JAMES  HALL 

1894.     Accademia  royale  dei  Lincei,  Rome;  member. 
1896.     Societe  Geoligique  de  Belgique;  congratulations  on 
6oth  anniversary. 

1896.  Vice-president,  Societe  Geologique  de  France. 

1897.  Delegate  from  American  Association  to  the  Inter- 

national Congress  of  Geologists  at  St.  Petersburg. 

1897.  "Ancien  president  honoraire"  of  the  International 

Congress  of  Geologists,  St.  Petersburg. 

1898.  Ural  Society  of  Natural  Sciences;  honorary  mem- 

ber in  place  of  Sir  Roderick  Murchison. 


INDEX 


Adams,   C.   B.,   148,   *73 
Adirondack    Survey,    59 
Agassiz,    Alexander,   384,   403 
Agassiz,   Louis,   81,   82,   86,   151,   153, 

168,    171,    183,    187,    205,    210,   219, 

254,  272,   377,  414,  462 
Ainsworth,  D.  E.,   53 1 
Alabama,  University  of,   152,   180 
Albany  Academy,   35,   5»,    191,   258 
Albany  County,   geological   survey  of, 

Albany  Evening  Journal,  establish- 
ment of,  271 

Albany  Female   Academy,    74 

Albany  Institute,  49,  5<>,  253,  341, 
366,  414,  4i7,  442 

Albany  Law  School,  202 

Albany  Medical  College,  191,  192,  244 

Albany  Normal    School.    262 

Alvord,  Thomas  G.,  466 

American  Association  for  the  Ad- 
vancement of  Science,  52,  100,  102, 
103 

American  Association  of  Geologists 
and  Naturalists,  102,  134 

American  Geological      Museum,      188, 


Bad  Lands,  245 

Bagg,   Egbert,   38 

Bailey,  Jacob  W.,   139,   17*1  17°.   194, 

Bailey,  Loring  W.,  325,  4*8 

Bailey,   Whitman,   418 

Baird",   S.  F.,  440 

Bakewell,  Robert,  jr.,  112 

Barker,   George  H.,   457 

Barnard.   F.  A.  P.,  467 

Barrande,  J.,   346,  476,   477,   507 

Barris,  W.  H.,  235,  274 

Barrois,    Charles,  486,   487,   504,    533, 

534,   539 

Bath,    Countess   of,   66 
Baumhauer,  479,  481 
Beaver  Park,  Albany,   236 
Beaumont,  E.  de,  352,  399 
Beck,  Lewis  C.,  50,   133,   19* 
Beck,  Theodoric  Romeyn,  29,  50,  133, 

140,    182,    196,   201,   274 
Beckles,   347 
Beech,   Nelson  J.,   182 
irles    E., 


415-417,    490- 


" American    Geological    Society,"    255 
American  Geologists,    Association    of, 

101 

American  Geologists,     Society    of,    52 
American  Institute     of    the     City     of 

New   York,   49 
American  Museum 

tory,  464 

Anderson,    Martin    B.f    383 
Anderson,   Sir   James,   393,  395 
Andrews,  E.  B.  298 
Andrews,    William   A.,   340 
Anesthetization,   discovery  of,   218 
Antarctic  Exploration,   56 
Anticosti   Island,   307 
Anti-Masonic    interests,    271 
"Antirent   War."    149 
"Appalachian    System,"    459 
Appleton,    Nathan,    229 
Appleton,   WilliaM,   229 
Armsby,    Dr.    James    H.,     133,     !9O, 

Association    of    American    Geologists, 


Association    of    American    Geologists, 
and    Naturalists,    102,    139 


Beecher,     Chat 

494,  524,  528,   534 
Be-cher,  Lyman,   19 
Bell,    A.    Graham,    498 
Benedict,  Lewis,  271,  272,  274 
Benton,    E.    R.,    258 
"  Berkshire   Boulder  Trains,"   255 
Bethel,   73 

"  Bible  and   Science,"   264 
B'ckmore,   Albert  S.,  463,  465,  549 
f    Natural    His-        Bigsby,  J    J.    347.   398,  430,  438 
Bigsby    Medal,   436 
Billings,    Elkanah,   306 
Binney,  Amos,  22,  23 
"  Bird   Tracks,"   87 
Bishop,  I.  P.,  537 
Bishop,  Thomas  B.,   540 
Bissell,    Gov.    William    H.,    283-285 
Blanford,  W.  L.,   506 
Blainville   de,   83 
Board  of   Geologists,   52,  99,    100 
Bologna  Congress,  504 
Bonaparte,   Charles,    169 
Bonaventure   Formation,   422 
Boss,    Benjamin,   202 
Boss,  Lewis,  202 
Boston    "  episode,"    125 
Boston    Society    of    Natural    History, 

20,  22,  134,  227,  256 
Bouck,   Gov.,    132,    134,   137,    184 


Ast,  Philip,  407,  409 
Astromonical  Expedition  to  Chile, 
Atlantic  Cable,  laying  of,  394 


Boule,  M.,  539 
i        Bounty  Lands  of  'Central  New  York, 
65 

[557] 


558 


INDEX 


Bouve,  Thomas  T.,   20,   178 

Bowerbank,  J.   S.,  431 

Boyd,    George    W.,    56 

Boyle,  Sir  David,  471 

Boynton,  John  F.,  440 

Branner,   John  C.,  426,  539,   540 

Brazilian   geology,   425,   427,   428 

Brevoort,   J.   Carson,   385 

Briggs,   Caleb,  jr.,  90,  91 

British  Museum,  88 

Bronson,   Greene  C.,   190 

Brooks,    Mrs.,    180 

Brooks,    T.    B.,   423 

Brown,   Gov.   B.   Gratz,  454 

Buckland,    William,    40,    106,    432 

Burning  of  Beecher's  Church,   19 

Burning   of  the   "  Henry   Clay,"   235, 

325 

Bush,  E.  G.,  402 
Busk,   George,   436 


California  geology,  299 

California,  Government  Mission  to, 
131 

California  schemes,    181 

Calloway,   Charles,   417 

Calvin,    Samuel,    547 

Canada,    Geological    Survey    of,    301 

Canadian   Naturalist,   306 

Canino,   Prince  of,   169 

Capcllini,    393,   480,   504 

Cardiff    Giant,    438-443 

Carley,  J.,  87 

Carll,  J.  F.,  457 

Carpenter,    W.    B.,   431 

Carr,  Ezra  S.,  56,  173,  286,  289 

Carruthers,  W.,  435 

Castleton,    Vt.,    Medical    School,    3' 

Catskill   Division,  97 

Catskills,   survey  of,   37 

Celebration  of  Sixtieth  Official  Anni- 
versary, 541 

Chamberlin,     Thomas     C.,     287,     481, 

Chambers,   Robert,   437 

Champlain  Division,  97,   157 

Charleston   Medical   College,   193,   208 

Chase,  Gpv.,   298 

Chicago   in   early   days,    31 

Christy,    David,    87,   242 

Civil  War,  395 

Clapp,    Dr.,   87 

Clark,   Gov.   Myron  H.,   318,   382 

Clark,    Joseph,    87,    150 

Clark,  W.  B.,  539 

Clarke,  F.   W.,   539 

Classification    of   the   Formations,   97 

Claypole,  E.  W.,  513 

Cleaveland,    Parker,    40 

Clinton,    DeWitt,    27,    50 

Clinton,    George,   385,    391 

Coal,  arc  of,  42,  75-80 

Cogswell,    F.    G.,    288 


Cohoes  Mastodon,   386 

Collections  and  collectors,  85 

Collections,  early,  44 

Collett,  John,   509,   510 

College   of    Physicians   and    Surgeons, 

Fairfield,    37,   50 
"  Colonies,"   371,   372 
Colorado  Exploring  Expedition,  298 
Colquhoun,   Patrick,   66 
Colton,   Josiah,   210 
Comstock,    T.    B.,    426 
Connecticut    Valley    bird    tracks,    87 
Conybeare,    106 

Conrad,   Timothy  A.,    53,    54,   62 
Continuity  of  life,  opinions  on,   1843, 

82 
Cook,  George  H.,   30,   191.   208,   296, 

457,  481 

Cooke,   Caleb,  419 
Cope,   E.    D.,    438,    481 
Copper   Harbor,   expedition   to,    14° 
Cornell    University,   founding   of,   423 
Corning,    Erastus,    385,    461 
Costillo,   del,   539 
Cotting,    John,    124,    132 
Country  Gentleman,   175,    191 
Country  lectures,  43 
Courts  and  Science,  212 
Cox,   E.  B..  481 
Credner,    Hermann,    398,    539 
"  Crevice    Maps,"    362 
Cross,  W.,   539 

Crystal    Palace    exhibition,    257 
Cumings,  E.  R.,   537 
Cunard,  Edward,  319 
Curtis,    George   William,    424 
Curtiss,  T.   B.,   230 
Gushing,  Caleb,    144 
Gushing,  Henry  P.,  536.  537 


Dana,  James  D.,  37,  45,  53,  99,  139, 

140,  209-215,   318.   384,   551 
Daniels,  Edward,  287,  289 
Darton,  Nelson  H.,   520,  537 
Darwin,  C.,   108,   140 
Davidson,    Thomas,    364,    434 
Davis,  William   M.,   278,   514 
Dawkins,  W.  B.,  431 
Dawson,  George  M.,   192,   542 
Dawson,    Sir  William,    366,   367,   433, 

Dean,  Amos,   190,  191,  208,  273,   319 
Dean,  Chancellor  University  of  Iowa, 

2IO 

Death   of  Agassiz,    462 

"  Barrande,    5°7 

"  Desor,  515 

«         "  Hall,   548 

"  Henry,    487 

"         "  Hodge,    149 

"         "  Houghton,    148 

"         "  Tames    Eights,    56 

"         "  Vanuxem,    55 


INDEX 


559 


DeGeer,  G.,  539 

De  la  Beche,   156,   302 

Derby,   Orville  A.,  412,  426 

Derby    School,    15,    22 

Desor,    Edouard,    172,    198,    219,   351, 

445-447,    475,    476,    483-485 
Detroit,  86 

Detroit   as  a  military  post,  31,  33 
Development    studies,    495 
Devonian    brachiopods,    406 
Devonian  forest,  460 
Devonian   plants,   399 
Dewey,    Chester,   38,   269,   321 
Dick,   Robert,  40,  41 
"  Dictionary  of  Fossils,"   516 
Directorship,     Geological     Survey     of 

Canada,    118 

Dix,  John  A.,  49,  59,  134 
d'Orbigny,  Alcide,  136 
Doctor  of  Medicine,   Hall,  43 
Dourdain,    Susanna,    n 
Downing,  Andrew  J.,  235 
Draper,    Andrew    S.,    497,    $03,    530 
Dudley,     Mrs.     Blandina,     197,     202, 

320 
Dudley    Observatory,    194,    202,    240, 

319 

Ducatel,  Dr.,  88 
Dwight,  W.  B.,  537 


Eaton,    Amos,   25-29,   35,   38,   42,   49, 

S3,    69,    89,    117 
Eaton,   James   R.,   508 
Ecole  des  Mines,   55 
Edgerton,    Fay,   37 
Eights,    James,    55,    56,    101 
Emerson,  Benjamin  K.,  258,  541,  549 
Emerson,     George    B.,    22,    23,     122, 

127,   132,   136,   139 
Emmons,    Ebenezer,    30,    40,    42,    53, 

57,  99,  206 

Emmons,   Ebenezer,  jr.,   101,  315 
Emmons's  Manual  of  Mineralogy  and 

Geology,  30 
Emory's      Survey      of     the     Mexican 

Boundary,  274,   300 
Engelmann,   George,   246,   247 
Eniskillen,   Lord,   348 
Erian,   158 
Erie   Division,   97 
Erie   Canal,    51 

Erie   Canal,    geological   survey   of,    27 
Etheridge,    Robert,    431 
European   geologists   in   America,    104 
Evans,   John,    245,   246,   435 
Everett,    Edward,    320 
Everett,  Thomas  T.,  144 
Evolution,    508 
Evolution     of    the     North     American 

Continent,  424 

Experiments,      Henry's      on      electro- 
magnetism,    259 
Expert  testimony,  212 
Exploring   expedition,   Fremont's,    174 


Fairchild,    H.   L.,    539 

Falconer,    H.,    347 

Fanning's  voyage  to  the  Antarctic, 
1828,  56 

Featherstonaugh,  George  W.,  29,  54, 
106 

Fenton,  Gov.  Reuben  E.,  384 

Field,  Cyrus  W.,  394 

Field,    Henry   M.,    394 

Fillmore,  Millard,   320 

Finger   Lakes,    67,  72 

Finley,  John  H.,   402 

First    District,    52 

First  Parish  Meeting  House,  Hing- 
ham,  13 

Fitton,   W.    H.,   433 

Five    Points    Mission,    New   York,   32 

Flower,    Gov.    Roswell    P.,   530 

Ford,    S.    W.,    457 

Forty-niners,    181 

Fossils,  abundance  of  in  Fourth  Dis- 
trict, 64 

Foster   Geological    Chart,    204-208 

Foster,    James   T.,    205,   206 

Foster,  John  W.,  aog,  218,  224,  228, 
256 

Foster  suit,  209 

Foster  and  Whitney  Survey,  219,  2«4 

Fourth    District,    53,    63,    68 

Frazer,   Persifor,  423 

Freeh,   F.,   538,   539 

Fremont,  J.  C.,  174,  396 

French  libel,   532 

French    resentment    of    libel,    533 

French    Revolution,    1848,    165-168 

Fritz-Gaertner,    R.,   412 


Gabb,  William  M.,  424 

Gannett,  H.,  539 

Gaspe,    302,    303,    370,    422 

Gaudry,   Albert,  514,   544 

Gay,   Martin,  21,   22 

Gebhard,    John,    40,    41 

Gebhard,    John,   jr.,   40,    41,    55,    135, 

382 

Geikie,    Archibald,    402,    429 
Geikie,     James,     on     mountains,     333- 

Geinitz,   H.   B.,   444,   534 

General   Land  Office,   145 

Genesee   country,    65 

Genesee   tablet,    71 

Genesee  valley,   description   of,   70 

Geneva   College,    152 

Geographical    distribution    of   animals, 

187 

Geological  chart,    Hall's,    214 
Geological  and  Agricultural  Hall,  133 
Geological  Districts    readjusted,    60 
Geological  Divisions  of  the   State,    58 
Geological  experiences     in     the     Bad 

Lands,  250 


560 


INDEX 


Geological  Hall,  318,  382 

Geological  History      of      the      North 

American    Continent,    325 
Geological  Map    of    the    Middle    and 

Western   States,  94 
Geological  Map    of    New    York,    519, 

Geological  Map  of  the  United   States, 

404-406 
Geological  Society     of    America,     42. 

521 

Geological  Society   of  France,    164 
Geological  Survey    of   New    York,    48 
Geological  Survey   of   the  vicinity   of 

the  Erie  Canal,  27 
Geological  Survey    of    Canada,    301 
Geological  Survey  of  Iowa,  271,  357 
Geological    Survey    of    New    Mexico, 

300 

Geological  time  in  the  courts,   213 
Geology  of  Canada,   304 
Geology   in    Mississippi,    175 
Geology,    Monthly    American    Journal 

of,  29 
"  Geology    of    North    America,"    Mar- 


, 

Geology 
Georgia, 


ensselaer  School,  26 


sorgia,    agricultural    and    geological 

survey  of,   132 

Georgia    trilobites,    369,    371-374 
Gibbs,  Wolcott,  86,   200,  218 
Gilbert,    G.    K.,   345,   387,    549 
Gill,   Theodore,   423,    539 
Gillis,    Lieut.,    181 
Goadby,   Henry,    198 
Goode,    G.    Brown,    142 
Gorham,   Nathaniel,  64.   65.   73 
Gould,  Augustus  A.,  23,  82,  122,  123, 

132,   136,   231,  365,  388 
Gould,    B.    A.,    202,    349 
Gould,    Kendall   and    Lincoln,    128 
Graptolites,  304,   379~38i 
Gray,  Asa,  31,  37 
Gray,  Francis  C.,  146 
Greeley,    Horace,   271 
Greene,  James  S.,   144 
Greenough,   G.   B  ,    106,   433 
Gregorio,    A.,    505 
Grimes,  Gov.  Jr.mes  W.,  271-275,  279- 

281,  357 
Guyot,   Arnold,    169,    221 

H 

,  40 

298 

Hagar,   A.    D.,   454 
Haldeman,    135,    14°,   238 
Hale,   Benjamin,   151- 
Hale,  T.  J.,  361 
Hall  at  75,  501 
Hall,    Edward,   395 
Hall,  James,    birth,    13 
Hall,    Chief   Geologist,    6a 
Hall,  James,  jr.,  29 
Hall,  James,    sr.,    11-12 


Hadley,  James,  37, 
Hafner,  Ludwig,  29 


Hal],  Mrs.  James,   sr.,   14.    127,    180 

Hall,  James   W.,   412 

Hall,  Josephine,   395 

"  Hall  and  Slade,"  88,  89 

Hall,  William,  88 

Hall's  influence  on  science,  549 

Hall's   "Text-book,"    128 

Hall's   tribute   to    Eaton,    37 

Hamilton,   Alexander,   26 

Hanks,    Henry,   481 

Hapgood,   Henry,   12 

Harper,    Lewis,   298 

Harpers,    128 

Harrington,   B.   J.,   302,   379 

Hams,    Hamilton,    530 

Harris,   Ira,   192 

Hartt,  Chas.  Fred.,  418,  425 

Harvard  Address,  190 

Harvey,   Gov.,   360 

Haug,     E.,     on     mountain     structure, 

335,   336 

Hawkins,   B.  W.,  432 
Hawley,  Gideon,  319 
Hawn,   Frederick,   341,   344 
Haydcn,     Ferdinand     V.,     244,     341, 

346,  472 

Hebert,  438,  445,  480,  516 
Heer,  O.,  435 
Helderberg  Division,  97 
Helderberg    Mountains,    39 
Helderberg    Mountains,    distinguished 

visitors    to,    113 
Helderbergs,   survey  of,   27 
"Helderberg  War,"   114 
Henry,  Joseph,  27,  36,  181,  209,  215, 

225,   258,  327,  350,  487 
Henry's    experiments   in   Albany,    36 
Herzer,  Henry,  418 
"  Hibernicus,"  51 
Hilgard,  E.  W.,  299 
Hill,   Nicholas,   jr.,    192,   208 
"  Hills  of  Hingham,"   n 
Hingham  burying  ground,   13 
Hingham,       its       surroundings       and 

settlement,    10 
Hitchcock,   C.   H.,   454 
Hitchcock,   Edward,   28,   52,   100,   140, 

173,  256,  321,  362,  375 
Hobart  College,   151 
Hobart,  Peter,  9 
Hobart,   Rebecca,  9 
Hodge,    James   T.,    145,    149 
Holder,   Charles  F.,  423 
Holl,  H.  B.,  432 
Holland  Land  Company,  66 
Holland  Purchase,  66 
Holmes,  W.  H.,  539 
Hoist,  539 
Honors,   List  of,   552 

Sopkins,  William,  347,  433 
ornaday,   W.   T.,   346 
Hornby,  John,  66 
Hornby   Lodge,   71 
Horsford,  Eben  N.,  26,  30,  57,  68-72, 

209 
Horton,  William,  40 


INDEX 


561 


Hough,   Franklin  B.     384 

Houghton,    Douglas,    30,    31.    33,    I39, 

148 

Houston,  Gov.  Sam,  396 
Hovey,   E.   O.,   295,   549 
Hovey,  H.  C.,  295 
Howard,  Leland  O.,  419 
Howe,   John   A.,  229 
Howell,   E.  W.   345 
Hubbard,  B.,  86 
Hubbard,   Lucius  L.,   145 
Hudson    Bay   Fur    Company,   246 
Hughes,   McK.,   539 
Hulke,   J.   W.,   436 
Humboldt,  von,   169,  452 
Hun,  Thomas,  35,  213,   319 
Hungerford,   Edward,  375 
Hunt,  T.  S.,  305,  448-450.  454 
Hunt,  Gov.  Washington,  320 
Husted,  James  W..  466,  467 
Huxley,  T.  H.,   348,  4.31,  435,  478 
"  Hydrarchos   sillimani,"    89 


Illinois   Geological    Survey,   282 

"  Illustrations    of    Devonian    Fossils," 

474 

Indian  Ladder,  113,   114 
Influence  on   Science,  Hall's,  549 
Ingersoll,  Ernest,  423 
Ingham,  W.  A.,   457 
Inscription    on    Emmons's   house,    ioa 
International       Geological       Congress, 

organization,    478,   480 
International    Geological    Congress    at 

Washington,    538 
Iowa       University,      Department      of 

Natural    History,   282 
Iowa  Geological  Survey,  276 
Iowa   State  University,   27?.   281 
Iowa     State     University,     Chancellor- 
ship of,   273 

Iron  fields   of  New  York,  60 
Isle    Royale, 


Isle    Royale,    145,    221 
Ives,   Lieut.   J.   C.,   298 


Jackson,    Charles    T.,    21,    132,    139, 

"  Jam'es  Hall's  Law,"  336 
Jeffreys,   J.   G.,   434 
Jewett,     Ezekiel,     38,     73,     241,     339, 
354,   383,  421 

ohn  Boyd  Thaoher  Park,  114 

ohn   O'Groat's  house,  71 

ohnson,  Alexander  S.,  385 

ohnstown  flood,  79 

ones,  T.   R.,   348,   432,  447 

ourney    to    Russia,    542 
dd,   J.   W.,   435 

K 

Kayser,   E.,   538,    S39 
Kelly,  John,  51 1 
Kellogg,    Ebenezer,    38 

36 


Kellogg,  G.  M.,  295,  363 

Kemp,  James  F.,    536,   537 

Kendall,    Charles    S.,    18-20 

Kentucky,   State   Geologist  of,   181 

Kerr,  W.  C.,  487 

Kew   Gardens,    291 

Keyserling,    154 

Kidd,    James,    192 

Kidnapping  of  William  Morgan,  270 

Kimball,   J.   P.,   457 

King,  Clarence,  331,  424,  472 

King,  T.    Butler,    181 

King,    Rufus    H.,    192 

Kingsley,   J.   S.,   419 

Kirkdale  caverns,   40 

Kirkwood,    Samuel   I.,   357 

Kitchell.    William,    296 

Koch,    Dr.,    88,   89 

Kunz,  G.  F.,  465 


Lake  Bouve,  21 

Lake  Superior  Copper  Co.,  144 

Lake  Superior,  expedition  to,  146 

Lake  Superior  geology,  220 

Lake  Superior  Mineral  Lands,  survey 

of,    199,   217 
Lane,   Alfred   C.,   145 
Langton,   John,    308 
Lansing,  Christopher  Y.,  192 
Lansing,    Gerrit    Y.,    319 
Lansing,    John,    jr.,    27 
Lapham,    Increase  A.,   286,   289,   290, 

293,   361 

Later   geology,    535 
Law  of  1893,   530  ^ 
Lawrence,   Amos,  jr.,  229 
Lawrence   Scientific   School,    187 
Lea,   Isaac,   523 

Leavenworth.    E.    W..    266.    383 
LeConte,   John    L.,    238 
LeConte,  Joseph,   225,   541 
Lecturer    at    Cornell    University,    423 
Lectures  by  Hall,  43 
Legislative  resolution  to  Hall,   532 
Leidy,    Joseph,    245,    296 
Lesley,  J.  P.,  277,  278,  455-459,  4oi. 

514-518,   534 
Lesquereux,  Leo,   221 
Lesueur,   89 
Letchworth  Park,   71 
Lewis,    Dr.    Dio,    365 
Lewis,   Tayler,    263 
Liberian    Colonization    Society,    242 
Liebig,   74,    3iQ 

Lincklaen,  Ledyard,   179,   339.  3»3 
Lincoln,   Major-General   Benjamin,    12 
Lindstrom.   G.,   547 
Linnean    Society,   22 
Lintner,   Joseph  A.,   386 
Litton,  228,  297 
Liverpool  Free  Museum,  394 
Livingston,   James   Duane,    106 
Locke,    John,    87,    218 
"  Lockport    Company,"    87 
Logan  Club,  305 


562 


INDEX 


Logan  Memorial,  305 

Logan,    W.    E.,    302-304.    307,    321. 

376 

Lohest,  M.,  5.39       ^ 
London  associates,  66 


Lord,  Jarvis,  461 
Louis  Philippe,   165 
Levering,  Joseph,   195 
Lowe,  Gov.,  279,  281,   357 


Lowell  Institute,   86,   118,   168 

Lowell,    John    A.,    122,    123,    188 

Lowell,    James    Russell,    424 

"  Lower  strata,"   138 

Lucas,  F.  A.,  346 

Lundholm,   539 

Luther,   D.   Dana,  535,  537 

Lydia  street,   Hall's  home  on,   150 

Lyell,  Lady,    170 

Lyell,  Sir  Charles,  39,  78,  98,  107, 
136,  148,  257,  347,  433,  436;  travels 
through  the  States,  116;  visits 
Hall,  109;  "Travels  in  North 
America,"  127;  "intrusion,"  122; 
second  visit,  149;  third  visit,  257; 
travels,  112,  129 

Lyman,   Benjamin    Smith,   278,   279 

Lyon,   Lucius  A.,  31,  33 

Lyon,   Sidney   S.,  243 

M 

McChesney,    J.    H.,    283,    285,    295 

McCoy,  F.,  438 

McGee,  W.   J.,   520,   539,   540 

Mclnnes,    William,    305 

Macbride,    Thomas   H.,    281,   282 

Maclure,  William,  89,    106 

Mahan,   Dennis  H.,   194 

Maine,     Geological     Survey    of,     217, 

Manual  of  Geology,   Emmons,   128 

March,    Dr.   Alden,    133 

Marcou,   Jules,  219,  351 

Marcy,  Gov.  William  L.,  52,  62,  296, 

530 
Marcy's    survey    of    the    Red    River 

country,    300 

Msi-gerie,    E.   de,    516,   539 
Markoe,   Francis,   144 
Marsh,    Dexter,   87 

Marsh,   O.   C.,   87,   443,   497,    5*9,    539 
Maryland,    University    of,    43 
Massacusetts,    Geological     Survey    of, 

Massachusetts'    New   York  lands,   65 

Mason,  Daniel,  9 

Mason,   John,   9 

Mastodon    from    Cohoes',    386 

Mather,  W.  W.,  40,   53,   100,  206 

Maude,    traveler    and   explorer,   64 

Mauvaises   Terres,    245,    248 

Mepfc,  Fielding  B.,  243,  246,  251,  280, 

34 1 

Memorial  inscription,  A.  A.  A.  S.,  102 
Memorial   tablet  on  "  office,"   237 
Meneghini,   Joseph,    505 


Merrill,  F.  J.  H.,   520 

Merrill,  George  P.,  177,  218,  257, 
368 

Mexican  Boundary  Survey,  Emory's, 
274 

Mexican  War,  73 

Michigan   Territory,    144 

Miller,  Hugh,  40,  41,  338 

Mining  projects,   261 

Mississippi   geology,    175,    177,   298 

Missouri    Geological    Survey,    297 

"  Missourium,"    88 

Mitchell,    Ormsby   M.,    194 

Mohawk  Division,  97,   157 

Monteith,  James,   73 

Monthly  American  Journal  of  Geol- 
ogy, 1 06 

Montreal    Address,    323 

Moore,   Zephaniah   Swift,   38 

Morgan  expeditions,  426 

Morgan,   Lewis  H.,   390,   391,  441 

Morgan,  William,  270 

Morris,    John,    434 

Morris,   Robert,    65 

Morse,   Edward   S.,   400,   420,   498 

Morse,    S.    F.    B.,    36,   217,    258,    487 

Morton,  Henry,  440 

Morton,  Samuel  G.,  88,  140,   151 

Mountain    structure,    325,    326,    331— 

Mount  Sylvan  Academy,  Miss.,  176 
Murchison,  Sir  Roderick,  80,  98,   106. 
153,    156,    158-162,    348,    393,    433, 
468 

Murdock,   Hiram,   87 
Murphy,    Edward,    511 
Murray,  David,  496,  529,   547 
Museum  of  Comparative  Zoology,  384 
Museum    of    Scientific    and    Practical 
Geology   and    General   Natural    His- 
tory, 385 

N 

Naples,  73 

National    Academy    of    Sciences,    518 

National       Academy       of       Sciences, 

Albany  meeting,   1885,  498 
National  Geological  Museum,   188 
National  Institution,    140,    142 
National  Research  Council,  345 
National  University,  202 
Natural      History      Survey     of     New 

York,   48 
"  Nestor     of     American     Geologists," 

539 

Newberry,  Henry,  95 
Newberry,    John    S.,    39,    87,    95,    96, 

244,   274,   288,   297,   396,  467 
New  Hampshire  Geological  Survey  of 

217 

New  Harmony,   89,   227 
New  Jersey    Geological    Survey,    296 
Newland,   John,    208 
New  York    City    Lyceum    of    Natural 

History,  57 


INDEX 


563 


New  York  Legislature,  532 

New  York    State   Museum,   27,   36 

New  York       Series       of       Geological 

Formations,   525,    550 
New  York   "  Tabernacle,"    120 
New  York   Tribune,    120 
Niagara  Falls,  Lyell  and  Hall  at,  in 
Nicholson,    H.    A.,   469,   470 
Nicollett,  130 
Niles,   W.    H.,   549 
"  North  California,"   174 
"  North    Country,"    179 
Northern      Transcontinental      Survey. 

398 

Norton,  John  P.,  194 
Norwood,  J.    G.,  283,  285 
Novak,   O.,  479 


Oehlert,    D-P.,    533 

"  Office "    on    Beaver   Kill,    236 

Ohio   Geological   Survey,   297 

Olcott,    Thoaias    W.,    179,    190,    192, 

202,  319 

"  Old   Bank   Building,"   Troy,  47   . 
"  Old   Capitol,"   133 
Old    Red    Sandstone,    39,    79,   4«o 
Old  Ship  Church,  Hingham,  13 
"  Old   State   Hall,"   318 
Oneonta   sandstone,    422 
Ontario    Division,    97,    157 
Organization      of      Natural      History 

Survey,    5 1 

Orton,    Edward,    401,    537 
Owen,   David  Dale,  89,  94,   139 
Ov/en,    Richard,    89 
Owen,    Robert,    89 


Pacific   Railroad   Survey,  246,  299 

Packer,   Asa,  419,   457 

Palaeozoica,   305 

Palmer,    E.   D.,  440 

Parallelism  of  American   Formations, 

226 
Parker,     Amasa    J.,     190,     192,     209, 

319,   539 

Parker,  W.  K.,  432 
Parry,    C.    C.,   274,   275 
Patch,   Sam,  67 
Patroon  of  Albany,  25 
Peabody   Academy,   419 
Peale,    Rubens,    40 
Peck,    Charles    H.,    385,    391 
Peirce,   Benjamin,    194,    195,  230 
Penekese     School,    463 
Pennsylvania    Geological    Survey,    456 
Terciyal,   James  G.,   287,   288 
Permian   discussions,    341—344 
Petrified  forests,  460 
Phelps,    Oliver,    65 

Phelps  and  Gorham   Purchase,   65,  66 
Phillips,    John,    434 
"  Poems "    by    Mrs.     Hall,    to    Lady 

Lyell,    127 


Poinsett,   Joel   R.,    142,    143 
Polytechnic     School     in     New     York, 

200,   203 

Pope's  Survey  of  Texas,  300 
Portage  cataracts,  71 
Potter,  Bishop,   134,  201,   320 
Powell,    John    W.,    75,    415,    47t>    539 
Pulteney,    Sir   William,   66 
Pumpelly,     Raphael,    383,     398,     412, 

455,   498,    539 
Putnam,   F.  W.,  400 
Preemption   line,   65 
Preface,   7 

Prentice,   Ezra  P.,   190,   319 
Prestwich,    Joseph,    434,    437 
Price,  Rodman  W.,   296 
Primordial  fauna,  99 
Prosser,   Charles  S.,  520,  537 
Prout,    H.    A.,   297 
Pruyn,    John   V.    L.,    319,    384,    441 
Pruyn,  Robert  H.,  192 


Quebec  Group,  368-379,  448,  450, 
451 

R 

Ramsay,  A.  C.,  312.  342,  347,  348, 
421,  431,  436,  468,  482,  483 

Randall,   Gov.,   292 

Randall,  Henry  S.,    164,   179,   232 

Randall,  S.   S.,  196,  204,  215 

Rathbun,    Richard,   142,  412,   539 

Raymond,   Henry  J.,   120 

Redfield,    140 

Regents  of  the  University,  27,  50, 
381,  384,  391,  496,  S29,  530,  532 

"  Regents   Reports,"    390 

Reid,    Stephen,    256 

Reid,  Whitelaw,   439 

Rensselaer  County,  Geological  Sur- 
vey of,  27 

Rensselaer    Polytechnic    Institute,    28, 

Rensselaer  School,   24-26,  28,  29,  34, 

39,   88 

Rensselaerean   Plan,    25 
Reusch,  539 
Rhode    Island,    Geological    Survey   of, 

217 

Rice,  Victor  M.,  385 
Ries,  H.,  537 

Rochester,    University   of,    269 
Roemer,    Ferdinand,    172,    445,   472 
Rogers,    Henry    D.,    53,    59,    74,    76, 

100,   135,    144,   148,  256,  296,  348 
Rogers,    William    B.,    53,    59,    9O,   91, 

TOO,    256 

Rominger,   Carl,   397,   453,  522 
Roosevelt,    Theodore,    466 
Root,  Elihu,   151 
Root,  Oren,  151,  384 
Rothpletz,    539 
Ruedemann,  R.,  370,  381 


564 


INDEX 


Rumels,    Gov.,    298 

Rumford,    professor   of  chemistry,    57 

Rush  Medical  College,  56 

Russia,  journey  to,  542,  544 

Rust,  W.,   461 


Safford,  396 

Sager,  Aoram,  30,  31,  43.  86 

Salter,   J.   W.,   430 

Salutation  from  International  Con- 
gress, 539 

Sanders,  William  S.,  32 

Sao  Paulo,  Geological  Survey  of,  426 

Sarle,   C.  J.,  537 

Sartwell,    150 

Say,  89 

Schoepf,  105 

Schoolcraft's  Expeditions,  33 

School  days  at  Hingham,   15-21 

Schmidt,  A.,  412 

Schmidt,   C.,  539 

Schmidt,  F.,   538,  539 

Schuchert,  Charles,  39,  99,  158,  335, 
526-528,  534 

Science  in  the  courts,  212 

Scott,  Gen.  Winfield,  73,  241 

"crope.   G.   P.,   436 


Second'  District,   53 
Sedgwick,    98,    106,    154, 


393 


Seneca   Indiana,   64 

Seventh    International    Congress,    542 

Seward,  Gov.  William  H.,  271 

Seymour,   Gov.   Horatio,   383 

Seymour,   John,    383 

Sharp,    Dallas   Lore,    n 

Sharpe,    Daniel,   433 

Shays's  Rebellion,  12 

Shepard,   C.   U.,   86,   145 

Sherwood,   Andrew,   421,   457 

Sherwood,   Clark,  421 

Shumard,  Benjamin  F.,  246,  298,  342, 

396 

Shumard,   G.   C.,   298 
Silliman,    Benjamin,    26,    29,    45,    53, 

86,   89,    123,   136,   375 
Silliman,    Benjamin,   jr.,    123 
"  Silver-Grays,"    271 
Simpson,   George  B.,  407,  408,   522 
"  Six  Days  of  Creation,"  264 
Sixtieth  Anniversary,  540 
Slade,  Israel,   88,   89 
Smith,  Goldwin,  424 
Smith,  Herbert   H.,   418,   426 
Smith,  Increase      N.,      influence      on 

Hall,    1  6.    17 
Smith,  William,    40,   41 
Smithson,    James,    143 
Smithson    bequest,    142 
Smithsonian    Institution,    27,    234 
Smock,  John  C.,  496,  537 


Smyth,    C.   H.,  jr.,   536,   537 
ociety    for    the    Diffusi 
Knowledge,   160 


,      .       .,       .,         , 
Society    for    the    Diffusion    of    Useful 


Society    for    the    Promotion    of    Agri- 
culture, 49 


Society   of   St.    Petersburgh.   Imperial 

Mmeralogical,   92 
Sorby,  347 

"  Species-making,"   494 
Speculations    in    mineral    lands,    90 
Spinner,  F.  E.,  344,  511,  512 
Springer,   Frank,  353,  471 
Stainier,  539 
Starr,  Frederick,  470 
State  Cabinet  of  Natural  History,  381 
State  Geologist  of  Iowa,  White,  359 
State   Geologist   of  Kentucky,    181 
State  Geologist  of  Michigan,  452 
"  State  Hall,"    133,  499,   SOQ 
Steenstrup,   400 
Stefanescu,    539 

Stevenson,   John  J.,  42,  95,   458,   521 
Stokes,   Charles,   437 
Stone,  William   M.,   359 
Storer,  D.  Humphrey,  23,  230 
Storrs,  Abel,   32,   35 
"  Strata  "  Smith,  40 
Streng,   539 

St.    John,    Orestes,    298 
St.  Louis  Academy  of  Science,  247 
St.  Petersburgh  Congress,  542 
Successive    introduction   of   species   in 

geological  times,   187 
Suess,    E.,   335 
Sullivant,    222 
Surveys    of    Albany    and    Rensselaer 

Counties,   27 
Survey      of      the      Helderbergs      and 

Catskills,   27 
Swallow,    G.    C.,   228,   252,    297,    343, 

396,   454,    470 
Swinton,  407 
Swiss  Emigres,   221. 


Taconic  Mountains,  119 
Taconic  question,  52,  57 
Taconic  System,  99,  120,  135,  150, 

206,  212,   315,   374 
Taylor,  John  W.,  382 
Taylor,    Richard   C.,   79 
Temple  Hill   School,  Geneseo,   74 
Texas  Geology,  298 
Texas  Geological  Survey,  396 
Text-book     on     Geology,     Dana,     215, 

310 

Thayer,   Nathaniel,  425 
"  The    Recession    of    Niagara    Falls," 

1 20 

"  The  Zodiac,"   56 
Theory    of    mountain    structure,    327— 

330 

Thieme,    Otto,   352 
Third    District,    53 
Thomas,    David,   234 
Thomas,    J.   J.,    384 
Ticknor,    123 
Tccqueville,  de,  67 
Toland    Medical    College,    56 
Torrell,   479 


INDEX 


565 


Torrey,  John,   124 

Townsend,  Martin  I.,  530 

Trask,  John  B.,   299 

"  Travels   in   North    America,      Lyell, 

127 

Trilobites,   Devonian,  523 
Trip  down  the  Ohio  river,  94 
Trip   to    Sweden,    1897,    544 
Troost,  Gerard,  89,  233 
Troy  Lyceum,  26,   89 
Tschernyschew,  539 
Tucker,   Luther,   175,    190-192 
Tuomey,  Michael,  30,   177 
Tyndall,  J.,  435 

u 

Ulrich,   E.   O.,   526 

Union  College,  203,  263 

United  States  Exploring  Expedition  to 

California,   181 

United   States   Military  Academy,   53 
United    States    Sanitary    Commission. 

96,   396 

"  Unity   of   races,"   229 
University   of    Albany,    56,    192,    193, 

195,  i97»  198,  240 
University   of   California,    57 
University   of   Maryland,   43 
University      of      Michigan,      Medical 

School,   31 

University  of  Wisconsin,   56 
Upson,    Anson   J.,    532 
Utica  Free  Academy,   37 


Van  Benthuysen's   Sons,  'C.,   410 

Van  Buren,  Martin,  296 

Van  Deloo,  Christian,  294,  412 

Van  Deloo,    Jacob,    502,    548 

Van  Rensselaer,     Alexander,     32,     47 

Van  Rensselaer,    Stephen,  25,  27,  29, 

50,    54,   57,    107,   319 
Van  Rensselaer   Manor,   319 
Vanuxem,   Lardner,   53,  55 
Vaux,   Calvert,   235 
"  Vegetable   fossils,"   42 
Verneuil,  de,   83,    153,   154,   164,  279, 

485 

Vermont  University,   275 
"  Vestiges   of   Creation,"   437 
Villages  of  the  Fourth  District,  66 

w 

Wabash  College,  295 

Wachsmuth,  Charles,  353,  471 

Wadsworth,  James,    146,  345 

Wahnschaffe,    539 

Walcott,     Charles    D.,    370,    413—415* 

461,   473,   474,   539 
Walker,  Sir  Edmund,  471 
Walker  prize,   519 


Walworth,    C.,    320 

Ward,    Henry   A.,    345,    3»7,  441 

Ward,    L.    F.,    539 

Warder,    John   A.,    243 

Washington      meeting,      international 

Geological    Congress,    538 
Webster,   John    W.,    74,    229 
Websters  and   Skinners,   208 
Weed,  Thurlow,  243,  271,  319 
West  Point   Military  Academy,   323 
Wesleyan  University,   53 
Wheatley,   C.   M.,   87 
Whipple's       Survey       of      the       25th 

Parallel,    300 

Whitfield,    R.    P.,    280,    355,   408 
Whitney,    Josiah    D.,    199,    201,    209, 

218,  273,  289,   361 
Whitney,  William   D.,  362 
White,  Charles  A.,  294,  357,  358,  539 
Whittaker,    William,    431 
Whittlesey,    Charles,   220,   221,   289 
Wild,   Alfred,   387 
Wiley  &  Putnam,  124,  128 
Wilkes    Exnloring    Expedition,    140 
Williams   College,    54 
Williams,  George  H.,  37 
Williams,  Mrs.   George  H.,  462 
Williams,  Henry    S.,    512 
Williams,   Robert  S.,   37 
Williams  Samuel    G.,   419 
Williams,  Samuel   Wells,    32,   35,   37, 

Williams,  Watson,   37 

Williamson's     Survey     of    California, 

300 

Wilson,    Alexander,    64 
Winchell,    Alexander,    384,   418,    451, 

Winchell,  N.  H.,  528 
Wisconsin   College  at  Appleton,  229 
Wisconsin  Geological  Survey,  286,  360 
Wollaston,   W.   H.,  433 
Wood,    Daniel   P.,   462,  467 
Woodrow,  James,  344 
Woodworth,  J.    B.,   21,   218 
Woolworth,   S.  B.,  384,  441 
Worthen,    A.    H.,    24-?,    275,    282 
Wright,    Benjamin    H.,    194 
Wright,    John,    26,    30,    32,    69 
Wright,   Silas,    137,    138 
Wyman,   Jeffries,    144,    152,    195 


Yale  College,  45,   86 
Yale  College,   laboratory,   45 
Yale  College,  lectures  at,  45 
Yale  College,  president  of,  37 
Young,   Samuel,    134 
Younglove,    T.   G.,    386 


Zeisberger,    75 
Zittel,   von,    539 


GE 

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